Botswana return to CAF African Schools Football Championship | COSAFA Qualifier
Botswana will be aiming to claim a first regional title in either the Boys’ or Girls’ competition at the CAF African Schools Football Championship | COSAFA Qualifier South Africa 2025, to be staged in Stellenbosch from December 5–7.
The teams return to the competition having not entered in 2024 and will want to show, with a new squad, that schools football in Botswana has made rapid progress in recent years, boosted by their participation in the CAF African Schools Football Championship | COSAFA Qualifier in 2022 and 2023.
The Botswana Girls’ side were, in fact, runners-up in the 2023 zonal qualifiers, losing 3-1 to South Africa in the final that was staged in Harare, Zimbabwe, having impressed throughout the competition.
They beat Eswatini 5-1 and hosts Zimbabwe 1-0, and drew with Malawi (0-0) and Mozambique (1-1) to book their place in the decider. However, they came up against a South African team that would later go on to lift the continental title in Zanzibar.
That performance says much about the potential of the Botswana team, and with a new squad they will hope to go one better this time round in South Africa.
It was a vast improvement from the year before, at the inaugural event in Malawi, where the Girls’ school representing Botswana, Mothamo JSS, finished bottom of the five-team group having taken a single point from their four games.
The change in format in 2023, to select players from various schools that excelled in the national trials, played to their favour.
The Boys’ entrants will now hope they can show improvement too. Thamaga JSS represented the country in Malawi but finished bottom of a three-team first-round pool.
They also took only a single point from four games in 2023, which came against Eswatini (0-0), before losses to Zimbabwe (1-4), Malawi (1-2) and Mozambique (1-4).
The draw for this year’s 11-team tournament in Stellenbosch will be made a few days before the competition.
BOTSWANA’S PAST Finishes
BOYS
2022: Group Stage
2023: Group Stage
2024: Did not enter
GIRLS
2022: Group Stage
2023: Runners-up
2024: Did not enter
BOTSWANA’S PAST RESULTS
BOYS
2022
Rosinha 3-0 Thamaga JSS
IQRA School 0-0 Thamaga JSS
Ile Perseverance 2-0 Thamaga JSS
2023
Botswana 0-0 Eswatini
Zimbabwe 4-1 Botswana
Malawi 2-1 Botswana
Botswana 1-4 Mozambique
GIRLS
2022
Mothamo JSS 0-0 GS Ningha
Mothomo JSS 0-1 Malindi Secondary
Anse Boileau 1-0 Mothomo JSS
Edendale Technical 4-0 Mothamo JSS
2023
Botswana 5-1 Eswatini
Zimbabwe 0-1 Botswana
Malawi 0-0 Botswana
Botswana 1-1 Mozambique
South Africa 3 Botswana 1
