CAF Women’s Champions League | COSAFA Qualifier and Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier draws on Tuesday

The draws for the 2025 CAF Women’s Champions League (CWCL) | COSAFA Qualifier and the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier will take place on Tuesday, August 5 from 11h00 CAT (09h00 GMT).

The CWCL | COSAFA Qualifier will be staged at the University of Johannesburg’s AW Muller Stadium from August 22 to 31, with a record 10 clubs competing for the regional crown. The U17 COSAFA Qualifier will be held in Harare from September 11 to 20.

The draws will be streamed live on COSAFA’s YouTube Channel, Facebook Page, and CAF TV. The CWCL | COSAFA Qualifier draw will take place at 11h00 CAT (09h00 GMT), followed by the U17 COSAFA Qualifier draw at 11h30 CAT (09h30 GMT).

CAF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | COSAFA QUALIFIER DRAW
Two-time continental champions Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa, winners in 2021 and 2023, headline the CWCL COSAFA Qualifier draw. They are joined by last year’s regional runners-up Gaborone United from Botswana, and Herentals Queens from Zimbabwe, who will serve as the third seeded team.

The 10 participating clubs will be split into three groups. Group A, featuring Sundowns, will contain four teams. Group B, led by Gaborone United, and Group C, led by Herentals Queens, will each include three clubs.

The seven unseeded sides include Olympic de Moroni of Comoros, Young Buffaloes FC of Eswatini, Ntopwa FC of Malawi, and Clube de Desportos da Costa do Sol of Mozambique, all of whom have featured in the competition before. Kick4Life WFC from Lesotho, Beauties FC from Namibia, and Zesco Ndola Girls FC from Zambia will be making their tournament debuts.

Seven teams competed in the inaugural edition in 2021, followed by six in 2022, and eight in both 2023 and 2024. This year’s 10-team field is a new record. Only the top team from Johannesburg will advance to the CAF Women’s Champions League finals.

Three COSAFA clubs have previously qualified for the continental finals: Mamelodi Sundowns in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024; Green Buffaloes from Zambia in 2022; and the University of the Western Cape in 2024.

A total of 16 clubs from 10 different countries have appeared across the first four editions of the CAF Women’s Champions League | COSAFA Qualifier.

Melinda Kgadiete of Sundowns is the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with eight goals. Sundowns also hold the record for the biggest win in the competition’s history, defeating Olympic de Moroni 8–0 in 2023.

Sundowns have never lost a match outright in this competition. Their only defeat came in the 2022 final via penalties to Green Buffaloes. In total, they have played 13 matches, won 11 and drawn two, scoring 52 goals and conceding just four. They did not participate in 2024, having qualified automatically as African champions.

CAF UNDER-17 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS | COSAFA QUALIFIER DRAW
Twelve nations will take part in the U17 AFCON COSAFA Qualifier: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The teams will be divided into three groups of four. Zimbabwe will be the top seed in Group A as hosts, with Zambia and Angola heading Groups B and C respectively. Pot 1 in the draw will contain South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana as the next highest-ranked teams, while Pot 2 will include the remaining six sides.

In the previous edition, the top three teams advanced to the CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations finals. Zambia are the defending champions, having defeated Angola 2–1 in the 2025 final, while South Africa qualified as the next best side.

Both Zambia and South Africa earned qualification for the expanded 48-team FIFA Under-17 World Cup, which will now be held annually.

Nine COSAFA nations have reached the continental Under-17 finals over the years. South Africa achieved the region’s best performance by finishing as runners-up in 2015. Angola secured third place in 2019, while Malawi finished fourth in 2009. Historically, the Under-17 age group has proved to be a challenging level for COSAFA teams in continental competition.

The COSAFA Under-17 Championship has taken on various forms in the past, including appearances as part of the AUSC Region 5 Games, though it remained organised by COSAFA. Zambia lead the way with four tournament wins in 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2024. South Africa have won three times in 1994, 2002 and 2020, while Angola claimed titles in 2018 and 2021. Malawi (2001), Zimbabwe (2007) and Namibia (2016) have each won once.

South Africa have been runners-up on five occasions, giving them eight final appearances from 12 editions – the most of any team. Three of those finals were decided by penalty shootouts: Zimbabwe beat South Africa in 2007, Namibia edged them in 2016, and South Africa beat Zambia in 2020.

The competition has produced many players who have gone on to feature for senior national teams across the region.