Everything you need to know about the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 AFCON COSAFA Qualifier
The TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2027 | COSAFA Qualifier produced goals, drama and emerging stars in Mozambique, with South Africa retaining the regional crown and the hosts joining them in securing a place at the continental finals.
Here is everything you need to know about the tournament staged in Maputo from 18-27 September.
Who were the champions?
South Africa retained the COSAFA Under-20 title with a 2-1 victory over hosts Mozambique in the final at ABB Stadium 1.
Oarabile Booysen opened the scoring with a superb long-range effort after 28 minutes before Martinho Comecar drew Mozambique level just two minutes later.
Steven Mendes then converted a penalty in the 58th minute for what proved to be the winning goal as Amajita completed a perfect tournament with five victories from five matches. They scored 13 goals and conceded only three.
Who qualified for the continental finals?
South Africa and Mozambique claimed the two places available to the COSAFA region at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2027.
Qualification was secured when they won their semi-finals, with South Africa coming from behind twice to defeat Zambia 4-2 and Mozambique producing an excellent performance to beat Namibia 3-0.
For Mozambique, qualification capped an impressive tournament on home soil, while South Africa will arrive in Ghana as the reigning continental champions after lifting the Under-20 AFCON title in 2025.
What happened in Group A?
Namibia were one of the revelations of the tournament as they completed the group stage with three victories from three matches and did not concede a goal.
They beat Mauritius 1-0, hosts Mozambique by the same scoreline and Seychelles 3-0 to finish with nine points and a 5-0 goal difference.
Mozambique recovered from their loss to Namibia to finish second with six points. They had opened with a 4-1 victory against Seychelles and then thumped Mauritius 5-0, with Alírio Cuna scoring a hat-trick.
Seychelles provided one of the tournament’s most entertaining games when they defeated Mauritius 4-3, with Lorenzo Hoareau scoring a hat-trick.
Final standings: Namibia 9 points, Mozambique 6, Seychelles 3, Mauritius 0.
What happened in Group B?
Defending champions South Africa were flawless.
They opened with a 3-0 victory over Lesotho as Mendes scored twice, defeated Angola 2-0 and completed the group stage with another 2-0 win against Eswatini.
That gave Amajita nine points, seven goals scored and none conceded.
Angola also impressed, scoring nine goals in their three matches. They defeated Eswatini 4-0 and Lesotho 5-0 either side of their defeat to South Africa.
That left Angola with exactly the same record as Mozambique in the race to be the best runner-up — six points, nine goals scored and two conceded.
The crucial difference was Fair Play points, with Mozambique advancing to the semi-finals because they had the better disciplinary record.
Final standings: South Africa 9 points, Angola 6, Eswatini 3, Lesotho 0.
What happened in Group C?
Record 12-time regional champions Zambia also sailed through the pool stage with three wins from three.
They defeated Malawi 2-0, Comoros 3-0 and Botswana 3-1 to finish with nine points, eight goals scored and only one conceded.
Malawi recovered from their opening loss to win their remaining two games, including a dramatic 2-1 victory over Comoros in which both of their goals came in second-half stoppage-time.
Their six points were not enough to beat Mozambique to the best runner-up place.
Final standings: Zambia 9 points, Malawi 6, Botswana 1, Comoros 1.
What happened in the semi-finals?
South Africa and Zambia produced one of the matches of the tournament.
Zambia led through Duncan Musialela, only for Mendes to equalise from the penalty spot. Booysen put South Africa ahead before Jonathan Kalimina made it 2-2.
Kalimina was subsequently sent off, and another Mendes penalty put Amajita back in front before Emile Witbooi sealed a 4-2 victory with a fine individual goal in stoppage-time.
Mozambique had a more comfortable passage through their semi-final, gaining revenge for their group-stage defeat to Namibia with a 3-0 victory. Comecar, Diego Pelembe and Hissen Socrate were on target.
Those victories were doubly important: reaching the final meant both teams had booked their tickets to Ghana 2027.
Who finished third?
Zambia responded to their semi-final disappointment by defeating Namibia 3-0 in the third-place play-off.
Gift Mumbi put the Junior Chipolopolo ahead before Sipho Muntanga scored twice in the second half.
Zambia therefore finished the tournament with four wins from five matches, while Namibia’s remarkable defensive record disappeared in the knockout stages as they followed three group-stage clean sheets with successive 3-0 defeats.
Who won the individual awards?
Mozambique forward Alírio Cuna was named Player of the Tournament following an outstanding competition in which he scored five goals.
South Africa striker Steven Mendes claimed the Golden Boot with six goals, including three penalties across the semi-final and final.
Amajita goalkeeper Takalani Mazhamba received the Golden Glove, while Namibia were presented with the Fair Play Award.
What were the key tournament numbers?
The tournament produced 73 goals in 22 matches, an excellent average of 3.32 goals per game.
The biggest victories were Mozambique’s 5-0 success against Mauritius and Angola’s 5-0 win over Lesotho.
The highest-scoring match was Seychelles’ thrilling 4-3 victory against Mauritius.
South Africa were the only side to win all five of their matches, while Namibia became the only team to complete the group stage without conceding a goal.
Who were the leading scorers?
Mendes finished top of the charts with six goals, one ahead of Cuna on five.
Lorenzo Hoareau of Seychelles and Angola’s Luís Panda were among the other leading marksmen, while a broad spread of scorers helped the tournament reach its total of 73 goals.
