COSAFA Cup

International association football tournament in Southern Africa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The COSAFA Cup (known fully as COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup) is an annual tournament for teams from Southern Africa organized by Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA), inaugurated after the ban against the Republic of South Africa had been lifted and the Africa Cup of Nations had been staged there in 1996.

Organiser(s)COSAFA
Founded1983
Teams14
Quick facts Organiser(s), Founded ...
COSAFA Cup
Organiser(s)COSAFA
Founded1983
RegionSouthern Africa
Teams14
Current champions Angola
(5th title)
Most championships Zambia
(7 titles)
Websitecosafa.com
2025 COSAFA Cup
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COSAFA

History

The following teams have participated in the tournament in the past: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Additionally, seven non-COSAFA members have competed: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Senegal. Zambia has won the most titles with seven wins, followed by Zimbabwe with six wins. Zambia has been the most prolific side in the competition failing to reach the top 4 only four times since the tournament's inception. The first editions of the competition were a knockout tournament staged over several months. As the competition grew, it transformed into a series of mini-tournaments.[1]

The 2010 COSAFA Senior Challenge was to be the 14th edition of the football tournament that involves teams from Southern Africa. In July 2010 it was confirmed that Angola would host the competition.[2] The 2010 edition of the competition was cancelled in October, 2010.[3] COSAFA stated that the Angolan authorities did not give enough guarantees to host the tournament.

Results

More information #, Year ...
# Year Host Final Third Place Match Teams
Winner Score Runner-up 3rd Place Score 4th Place
1 1997
Details
Home/away
Zambia
n/a
Namibia

Mozambique
n/a
Tanzania
9
2 1998
Details
Home/away
Zambia
n/a
Zimbabwe

Angola
n/a
Namibia
10
3 1999
Details
Home/away
Angola
1–0
1–1

Namibia
 Swaziland and  Zambia 10
4 2000
Details
Home/away
Zimbabwe
3–0
3–0

Lesotho
 South Africa and  Angola 11
5 2001
Details
Home/away
Angola
0–0
1–0

Zimbabwe
 Malawi and  Zambia 11
6 2002
Details
Home/away
South Africa
3–1
1–0

Malawi
 Swaziland and  Zambia 12
7 2003
Details
Home/away
Zimbabwe
2–1
2–0

Malawi
 Zambia and  Swaziland 12
8 2004
Details
Various hosts
Angola
0–0
(5–4 pen.)

Zambia
 Mozambique and  Zimbabwe 12
9 2005
Details
Mauritius
Namibia
South Africa
Zambia

Zimbabwe
1–0
Zambia
 South Africa and  Angola 13
10 2006
Details
Various hosts
Zambia
2–0
Angola
 Botswana and  Zimbabwe 13
11 2007
Details
Botswana
Mozambique
South Africa
Swaziland

South Africa
0–0
(4–3 pen.)

Zambia
 Botswana and  Mozambique 13
12 2008
Details
South Africa
South Africa
2–1
Mozambique

Zambia
2–0
Madagascar
14
13 2009
Details
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
3–1
Zambia

Mozambique
1–0
South Africa
13
- 2010 Angola Cancelled[4] Cancelled 14
14 2013
Details
Zambia
Zambia
2–0
Zimbabwe

South Africa
2–1
Lesotho
13
15 2015
Details
South Africa
Namibia
2–0
Mozambique

Madagascar
2–1
Botswana
14
16 2016
Details
Namibia
South Africa
3–2
Botswana

Swaziland
1–0
DR Congo
14
17 2017
Details
South Africa
Zimbabwe
3–1
Zambia

Tanzania
0–0
(4–2 pen.)

Lesotho
14
18 2018
Details
South Africa
Zimbabwe
4–2 (a.e.t.)
Zambia

Lesotho
1–0
Madagascar
14
19 2019
Details
South Africa
Zambia
1–0
Botswana

Zimbabwe
2–2
(5–4 pen.)

Lesotho
13
20 2021
Details
South Africa
South Africa
0–0 (a.e.t.)
(5–4 pen.)

Senegal

Eswatini
1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–2 pen.)

Mozambique
10
21 2022
Details
South Africa
Zambia
1–0 (a.e.t.)
Namibia

Senegal
1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–2 pen.)

Mozambique
14
22 2023
Details
South Africa
Zambia
1–0
Lesotho

South Africa
0–0
(5–3 pen.)

Malawi
12
23 2024
Details
South Africa
Angola
5–0
Namibia

Mozambique
2–2
(3–1 pen.)

Comoros
12
24 2025
Details
South Africa
Angola
3–0
South Africa

Comoros
1–0
Madagascar
14
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^n/a A round-robin tournament determined the final standings.

Teams reaching the top four

As of 2024

More information Team, Winners ...
Team Winners Runners-up Third Place Fourth Place Semi-finalists Top 4 Finishes
 Zambia 7 (1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2019, 2022, 2023) 6 (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2018) 1 (2008) 1 (2001) 4 (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003) 19
 Zimbabwe 6 (2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2018) 3 (1998, 2001, 2013) 1 (2019) 2 (2004, 2006) 12
 South Africa 5 (2002, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2021) 1 (2025) 2 (2013, 2023) 1 (2009) 2 (2000, 2005) 11
 Angola 5 (1999, 2001, 2004, 2024, 2025) 1 (2006) 1 (1998) 2 (2000, 2005) 9
 Namibia 1 (2015) 4 (1997, 1999, 2022, 2024) 1 (1998) 6
 Mozambique 2 (2008, 2015) 3 (1997, 2009, 2024) 2 (2021, 2022) 2 (2004, 2007) 9
 Malawi 2 (2002, 2003) 1 (2001) 1 (2023) 4
 Botswana 2 (2016, 2019) 1 (2015) 2 (2006, 2007) 5
 Lesotho 2 (2000, 2023) 1 (2018) 3 (2013, 2017, 2019) 6
 Senegal 1 (2021) 1 (2022) 2
 Eswatini[a] 2 (2016, 2021) 3 (1999, 2002, 2003) 5
 Madagascar 1 (2015) 3 (2008, 2018, 2025) 4
 Tanzania 1 (2017) 1 (1997) 2
 Comoros 1 (2025) 1 (2024) 2
 DR Congo 1 (2016) 1
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Medals (1997-2025)

More information Rank, Nation ...
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Zambia76518
2 Zimbabwe63312
3 South Africa51410
4 Angola5139
5 Namibia1405
6 Mozambique0257
7 Botswana0224
8 Lesotho0213
 Malawi0213
10 Senegal0112
11 Eswatini0055
12 Comoros0011
 Madagascar0011
 Tanzania0011
Totals (14 entries)24243381
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Participating nations

Legend
More information Team, Total ...
Team 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20102 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Total
 Angola 3rd1stSF1stQF1R1stSF2nd1RQFQFxQFGSGSGS––1GSGS1st1st 20
 Botswana 1R1R2R1R1R1RQFQF1RSFSFQFQFxGS4th2ndQFQF2ndGSQFGSGSGS 24
 Comoros GSGSxGSQF––1GSGS4th3rd 8
 Eswatini[a] 1R1RSFQFQFSFSFQF1R1R1RGSGSxGSGS3rdQFQFGS3rdQFGSGSGS 24
 Lesotho 1R1RQF2ndQF1R1R1R1R1R1RGSGSx4thGSQF4th3rd4thGSGS2ndGSGS 24
 Madagascar ––QFQF1R1R1R1R4th––1x3rdGSGS4th––1QF4th 13
 Malawi 5th1R2RQFSF2nd2ndQF1R1R1RGSQFxQFQFGSGSGSQFGSGS4thGS 23
 Mauritius 1RQF1R1RQF1R1R1RGSGSxGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGS 19
 Mozambique 3rd5thQF1R1RQFQFSF1R1RSF2nd3rdxQF2ndQFGSGSGS4th4thGS3rdGS 24
 Namibia 2nd4th2ndQF1R1R1R1R1R1R1RQFQFxQF1stQFQFQFGSGS2ndGS2ndGS 24
 Seychelles ––1R1R1RGSGSxGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGS 14
 South Africa 1RQFSFQF1stQF1RSF1R1st1st4thx3rdQF1stQFQFQF1stQF3rdGS2nd 23
 Zambia 1st1stSFQFSFSFSF2nd2nd1st2nd3rd2ndx1stQFQF2nd2nd1stGS1st1stGSGS 24
 Zimbabwe 1R2ndQF1st2ndQF1stSF1stSF1RQF1stx2ndGSGS1st1st3rdGSGSGS 22
Guest Nations
 DR Congo* 4th 1
 Equatorial Guinea* ––1 0
 Ghana* QF 1
 Kenya* GSGS 2
 Senegal* 2nd3rd 2
 Tanzania* 4th––1GS3rdGS 4
 Uganda* QF 1
Total91010111112121213131314130 (14)1314141414131014121214
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*D.R. Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Senegal are not COSAFA members, but have been invited to participate in the past.
1 Withdrew from tournament.
2 Tournament not played.

Summary (1997–2022)

COSAFA Cup invitees are included in the table with blue.

More information Rank, Team ...
RankTeamPartMWDLGFGAGDPoints
1 Zambia21633222109348+45117
2 Zimbabwe20593417810049+51113
3 South Africa2055301967729+48109
4 Namibia21592317197662+1486
5 Mozambique21611915245970-1175
6 Eswatini21532016176557+873
7 Angola17431815124737+1068
8 Malawi21591620236171-1068
9 Botswana21511517195250+262
10 Lesotho21531415245074-2457
11 Madagascar1236148143938+150
12 Mauritius184088242557-3232
13 Comoros61843111428-1415
14 Seychelles131916271964-459
15 Senegal293421312+113
16 Tanzania3132651015-512
17 DR Congo131111104
18 Ghana1200215-40
19 Kenya1311154+14
20 Uganda120201102
21 Equatorial Guinea000000000
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Top scorers

Peter Ndlovu of Zimbabwe and Manuel 'Tico-Tico' Bucuane of Mozambique are all-time top goalscorers in the tournament with ten goals each. In 2021 Felix Badenhorst of Eswatini moved into second position with nine goals.[5]

More information Year, Player ...
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See also

Notes

  1. Competed as Swaziland until 2018.

References

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