COSAFA Cup

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 African Cup of Nations had been staged there in 1996.

COSAFA Cup

Organising body	COSAFA
Founded	1983
Region	Southern Africa
Number of teams	14
Current champions	Angola (4th title)
Most successful team(s)	Zambia (7 titles),  Zimbabwe (6 titles)
Website	cosafa.com
2024 COSAFA Cup

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

Year	Host		Final				Third Place Match
			Winner	Score	Runner-up		3rd Place	Score	4th Place
1997 Details	Home/away		Zambia	n/a	Namibia		Mozambique	n/a	Tanzania
1998 Details	Home/away		Zambia	n/a	Zimbabwe		Angola	n/a	Namibia
1999 Details	Home/away		Angola	1–0 1–1	Namibia		Swaziland and  Zambia
2000 Details	Home/away		Zimbabwe	3–0 3–0	Lesotho		South Africa and  Angola
2001 Details	Home/away		Angola	0–0 1–0	Zimbabwe		Malawi and  Zambia
2002 Details	Home/away		South Africa	3–1 1–0	Malawi		Swaziland and  Zambia
2003 Details	Home/away		Zimbabwe	2–1 2–0	Malawi		Zambia and  Swaziland
2004 Details	Various hosts		Angola	0–0 (5–4 pen.)	Zambia		Mozambique and  Zimbabwe
2005 Details	Mauritius  Namibia  South Africa  Zambia		Zimbabwe	1–0	Zambia		South Africa and  Angola
2006 Details	Various hosts		Zambia	2–0	Angola		Botswana and  Zimbabwe
2007 Details	Botswana  Mozambique  South Africa  Swaziland		South Africa	0–0 (4–3 pen.)	Zambia		Botswana and  Mozambique
2008 Details	South Africa		South Africa	2–1	Mozambique		Zambia	2–0	Madagascar
2009 Details	Zimbabwe		Zimbabwe	3–1	Zambia		Mozambique	1–0	South Africa
2010	Angola		Cancelled[4]				Cancelled
2013 Details	Zambia		Zambia	2–0	Zimbabwe		South Africa	2–1	Lesotho
2015 Details	South Africa		Namibia	2–0	Mozambique		Madagascar	2–1	Botswana
2016 Details	Namibia		South Africa	3–2	Botswana		Swaziland	1–0	DR Congo
2017 Details	South Africa		Zimbabwe	3–1	Zambia		Tanzania	0–0 (4–2 pen.)	Lesotho
2018 Details	South Africa		Zimbabwe	4–2 (a.e.t.)	Zambia		Lesotho	1–0	Madagascar
2019 Details	South Africa		Zambia	1–0	Botswana		Zimbabwe	2–2 (5–4 pen.)	Lesotho
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
2022 Details	South Africa		Zambia	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Namibia		Senegal	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–2 pen.)	Mozambique
2023 Details	South Africa		Zambia	1–0	Lesotho		South Africa	0–0 (5–3 pen.)	Malawi
2024 Details	South Africa		Angola	5–0	Namibia		Mozambique	2–2 (3–1 pen.)	Comoros

^n/a A round-robin tournament determined the final standings.

Teams reaching the top four

As of 2024^[update]

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)	3 (1999, 2002, 2003)	18
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)		2 (2013, 2023)	1 (2009)	2 (2000, 2005)	10
Angola	4 (1999, 2001, 2004, 2024)	1 (2006)	1 (1998)		2 (2000, 2005)	8
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)	2 (2008, 2018)		3
Tanzania			1 (2017)	1 (1997)		2
DR Congo				1 (2016)		1
Comoros				1 (2024)		1

Participating nations

Legend

1st – Champions 2nd – Runners-up 3rd – Third place 4th – Fourth place 5th – Fifth place

SF – Semi-finals QF – Quarter-finals GS – Group stage 1R – First round 2R – Second round

Q – Qualified     — Hosts  –  – Did not enter  ––  – Withdrew before qualification / Banned

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	Total
Angola	–	3rd	1st	SF	1st	QF	1R	1st	SF	2nd	1R	QF	QF	x	QF	–	GS	GS	GS	––1	–	GS	GS	1st	19
Botswana	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	QF	QF	1R	SF	SF	QF	QF	x	GS	4th	2nd	QF	QF	2nd	GS	QF	GS	GS	23
Comoros	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	GS	GS	x	–	–	–	–	GS	QF	––1	GS	GS	4th	7
Eswatini[a]	1R	1R	SF	QF	QF	SF	SF	QF	1R	1R	1R	GS	GS	x	GS	GS	3rd	QF	QF	GS	3rd	QF	GS	GS	23
Lesotho	1R	1R	QF	2nd	QF	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	GS	GS	x	4th	GS	QF	4th	3rd	4th	GS	GS	2nd	GS	23
Madagascar	–	–	–	––	–	QF	QF	1R	1R	1R	1R	4th	––1	x	–	3rd	GS	GS	4th	–	––1	QF	–	–	12
Malawi	5th	1R	2R	QF	SF	2nd	2nd	QF	1R	1R	1R	GS	QF	x	QF	QF	GS	GS	GS	QF	GS	GS	4th	–	22
Mauritius	–	–	–	1R	QF	1R	1R	QF	1R	1R	1R	GS	GS	x	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	–	GS	GS	–	18
Mozambique	3rd	5th	QF	1R	1R	QF	QF	SF	1R	1R	SF	2nd	3rd	x	QF	2nd	QF	GS	GS	GS	4th	4th	GS	3rd	23
Namibia	2nd	4th	2nd	QF	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	QF	QF	x	QF	1st	QF	QF	QF	GS	GS	2nd	GS	2nd	23
Seychelles	–	–	–	––	–	–	–	–	1R	1R	1R	GS	GS	x	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	–	GS	GS	GS	14
South Africa	–	1R	QF	SF	QF	1st	QF	1R	SF	1R	1st	1st	4th	x	3rd	QF	1st	QF	QF	QF	1st	QF	3rd	GS	22
Zambia	1st	1st	SF	QF	SF	SF	SF	2nd	2nd	1st	2nd	3rd	2nd	x	1st	QF	QF	2nd	2nd	1st	GS	1st	1st	GS	23
Zimbabwe	1R	2nd	QF	1st	2nd	QF	1st	SF	1st	SF	1R	QF	1st	x	2nd	GS	GS	1st	1st	3rd	GS	–	–	GS	21
Guest Nations
DR Congo*	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4th	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1
Equatorial Guinea*	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	––1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Ghana*	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	QF	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1
Kenya*	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	GS	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	GS	2
Senegal*	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2nd	3rd	–	–	2
Tanzania*	4th	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	––1	GS	–	3rd	–	–	–	–	–	–	3
Uganda*	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	QF	–	–	–	–	1
Total	9	10	10	11	11	12	12	12	13	13	13	14	13	0 (14)	13	14	14	14	14	13	10	14	12	12

^*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.

Rank	Team	Part	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Zambia	21	63	32	22	10	93	48	+45	117
2	Zimbabwe	20	59	34	17	8	100	49	+51	113
3	South Africa	20	55	30	19	6	77	29	+48	109
4	Namibia	21	59	23	17	19	76	62	+14	86
5	Mozambique	21	61	19	15	24	59	70	-11	75
6	Eswatini	21	53	20	16	17	65	57	+8	73
7	Angola	17	43	18	15	12	47	37	+10	68
8	Malawi	21	59	16	20	23	61	71	-10	68
9	Botswana	21	51	15	17	19	52	50	+2	62
10	Lesotho	21	53	14	15	24	50	74	-24	57
11	Madagascar	12	36	14	8	14	39	38	+1	50
12	Mauritius	18	40	8	8	24	25	57	-32	32
13	Comoros	6	18	4	3	11	14	28	-14	15
14	Seychelles	13	19	1	6	27	19	64	-45	9
15	Senegal	2	9	3	4	2	13	12	+1	13
16	Tanzania	3	13	2	6	5	10	15	-5	12
17	DR Congo	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4
18	Ghana	1	2	0	0	2	1	5	-4	0
19	Kenya	1	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1	4
20	Uganda	1	2	0	2	0	1	1	0	2
21	Equatorial Guinea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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]

Year	Player	Goals
1998	Tauya Mrewa Peter Ndlovu Shepherd Muradzikwa Benjamin Nkonjera	2
1999	Betinho	3
2000	Luke Petros Delron Buckley	2
2001	18 players tied	1
2002	Mfanzile Dlamini Rotson Kilambe Teboho Mokoena Siza Dlamini Patrick Mayo	2
2003	Peter Ndlovu Noel Mwandila Russel Mwafulirwa	2
2004	Peter Ndlovu	3
2005	Collins Mbesuma	4
2006	Fabrice Akwa	3
2007	Paulin Voavy	3
2008	Phillip Zialor	4
2009	Cuthbert Malajila	4
2013	Jerome Ramatlhakwane	4
2015	Sarivahy Vombola	5
2016	Felix Badenhorst	5
2017	Ovidy Karuru	6
2018	Onkabetse Makgantai	5
2019	Gabadinho Mhango Gerald Phiri Jr. Ashley Nazira	3
2021	Sepana Letsoalo	4
2022	Sabelo Ndzinisa	3

See also

• COSAFA Women's Championship
• COSAFA U-20 Challenge Cup
• COSAFA U-17 Challenge Cup

Notes

1. Competed as Swaziland until 2018.