Under-20 Men’s and Women’s competitions set for Region 5 Games

The Region 5 Games in Windhoek, Namibia from July 4-13 will feature football competitions in both the Men’s and Women’s Under-20 age-groups that will be organised by COSAFA.

They will both form the regional championship in Southern Africa for that age-group, where new champions will be crowned.

This year there is no qualification for CAF continental competitions after South Africa won the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations title in Egypt last month. That event is played every two years.

Host’s Namibia headline Group A of the Men’s competition at the Region 5 Games and have been drawn alongside Angola, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Group B contains reigning COSAFA champions South Africa, their old foes Zambia, Eswatini and Botswana. The top two teams in each of the pools advance to the semifinals.

Namibia are also the seeded team in Group A in the Women’s competition, and they will take on Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe. COSAFA champions Zambia are the top seed in Group B and will play South Africa, Eswatini and Angola.

Matches will be played at two venues, the Hage Geingob Stadium and UNAM Stadium, both in Windhoek.

The COSAFA Under-20 Women’s Championship made a return to the calendar last year for the first time since 2019 and was won by Zambia. The previous edition was claimed by East African guest nation Tanzania.

Zambia are record 12-time winners of the regional finals in the Men’s competition, with defending champions South Africa claiming nine victories. Zimbabwe have been champions six times, and Madagascar and Mozambique once each.

The early years were dominated by the ‘Two Zs’, with Zambia winning six and Zimbabwe three of the first nine tournaments held.

South Africa were the first team to break the mould when they triumphed in 2000, having been losing finalists in 1995 and 1999.

A year earlier, in 1999, they had taken over the hosting of the event, which before then had been spread around the region. Each tournament up until 2009 was held in the Rainbow Nation, but the winners were less easy to predict.

Madagascar became only the fourth country to win the event when they surprisingly triumphed in 2005, beating shock finalists Lesotho 1-0 in the final.

Before Lesotho three years ago, the previous two installments, in 2010 and 2011, were hosted by Botswana, with Zambia extending their winning streak to three with success in both.

They added an 11th title in 2016 when they romped through the competition, defeating hosts South Africa 2-1 in the final, before bringing up a dozen in 2022 as they defeated Mozambique.

But more than lifting the trophy, the COSAFA tournament is about developing the talent of tomorrow and giving young players the chance to compete with their peers in a highly competitive environment that should help to prepare them for the challenges of senior international football.