South Africa to defend regional U20 crown in Windhoek

South Africa will be defending champions when they take part in the Under-20 football competition at the Region 5 Games in Windhoek, Namibia from July 4-13, having lifted the title in Mozambique last year.

The team went on to be crowned African champions in Egypt in May, the first time in their history, for what is proving an impressive generation for the country’s football.

They will open their campaign against old foes Zambia on July 5, before a clash with Botswana on July 7 and a final pool game against Eswatini on July 9.

South Africa have claimed the regional Under-20 competition nine times in all, with their first title coming in 2000. They also hosted the tournament for 11 consecutive years between 1999 and 2009.

The side have qualified for the Africa Under-20 Championships on nine previous occasions, winning gold last year and the silver medal in 1997.

South Africa went all the way to the final of the COSAFA Under-20 Championship on home soil in 2016, playing some scintillating football, but lost out to Zambia in the decider with a 2-1 defeat.

That was seen as a major disappointment, but they atoned for that with a run all the way to the gold medal in 2017.

After topping their pool with a full haul of nine points, ‘Amajita’ edged North African guest nation Egypt 1-0 in the semifinals.

That set up a decider with Lesotho and South African emerged as 2-1 winners to take home the trophy.

They repeated that triumph in 2018, topping their shortened pool with victories over Mauritius and Eswatini, before a 1-0 win over Angola in the semifinals.

That set up a final with old foes Zimbabwe and after the match finished 1-1, South Africa claimed the penalty shoot-out 4-3.

They could not make it a hat-trick of titles though as they lost 3-0 in the 2019 final to Zambia.
They managed seven points in their first round pool and then edged Madagascar 5-4 on penalties in the semifinals following a 2-2 draw. They had also drawn 1-1 with the Malagasy in pool play.

The side disappointed in 2020 with a first group stage exit in almost a decade, where a win over Lesotho (7-0) was coupled with draws against Zimbabwe (2-2) and Mozambique (0-0) as they finished runners-up in the pool.

They finished third three years ago, losing to Mozambique in the semifinals but beating Angola on penalties to take the bronze.

But they bounced back in 2024, with group stages wins over Malawi (5-0), Lesotho (6-0) and Comoros (2-0), before a semifinal success versus Angola (1-0) and a final win against Zambia (2-0).

SOUTH AFRICA FINISHES IN LAST 26 YEARS
1999 – Runners-up
2000 – Winners
2001 – Fourth
2002 – Third
2003 – Third
2004 – Winners
2005 – Fourth
2006 – Winners
2007 – Runners-up
2008 – Winners
2009 – Winners
2010 – Group stages
2011 – Group stages
2013 – Winners
2016 – Runners-up
2017 – Winners
2018 – Winners
2019 – Runners-up
2020 – Group stages
2022 – Third
2024 – Winners