We round up all the facts and figures around the 2019 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championships to be staged in Port Louis, Mauritius, from Sept. 20-29.

0 – There is no formal African Women’s Under-17 Championship, merely rounds of two-legged knockout ties that decide which teams will advance to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup every two years.

1 – The COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship will be played for the very first time this year, which means we will be able to crown the inaugural champion in 2019.

2 – There will be two venues used for the championships, namely the St. François Xavier Stadium in Port Louis and the Mauritius Football Association Technical Centre.

2 – South Africa and Zambia are the only two COSAFA nations to have appeared at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. South African managed the feat in 2010 and 2018, while Zambia were there in 2014.

3 – The Women’s Under-17 Championship is one of three COSAFA events to be staged for female footballers this year, deepening the organisation’s commitment to growing the women’s game in Southern Africa.

3 – Mauritius were hosts of the COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship for the previous three years between 2016 and 2018, but will now stage the inaugural COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship.

4 – Only four nations from the COSAFA region have entered the qualifiers for the FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup before – Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia. With the establishment of the COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship, that number should rise.

5 – Only five African nations entered the qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup, with two of those from the COSAFA region – Botswana and South Africa. That number had jumped to 12 for the 2018 qualifiers.

8 – There will be eight teams entered into the 2019 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship, namely Angola, Comoros, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.

14 – The COSAFA Under-17 Championship is open to all 14 of the nations that make up the Southern African regional body, while Reunion, as an associate member, may also enter tournaments.

16 – The 2019 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship features 16 matches, 12 in the first round group stage, two semifinals, a third-place play-off and a final.

20 – The 2019 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship starts on September 20 and runs to September 29.