Holders Zambia were drawn in Group B and hosts Mauritius in Group A for the COSAFA Under-17 Championship that will be staged on the Indian Ocean island later this month.

Zambia, who beat Zimbabwe in the final in 2014 when the tournament was last held, will take on neighbours Malawi as well as Madagascar and Mozambique in their group.

Mauritius have to contest with former winners South Africa as well as Namibia and the Seychelles in their section at the tournament, to be played in Mauritius from July 23-31.

Coming hot on the heels of the successful staging of the COSAFA Castle Cup in Namibia, it will be a showcase of the southern African region’s up and coming talent with scouts from top clubs expected to be looking for future stars.

The top two nations in each group advance to the semifinals, where the top team in Group A plays the Group B runner-up and the Group B winner places the second placed side from Group A.

The tournament will be played at two venues in Mauritius, the George V Stadium in Curepipe and St. François Xavier Stadium in the capital Port Louis.

Friday’s draw was be officiated by COSAFA Executive Committee Member and former South African Football Association President Molefi Oliphant together with the COSAFA Secretary General Sue Destombes at the organisation’s headquarters in Johannesburg.

The last COSAFA Under-17 Championship was played in Zimbabwe in 2014 as part of the AUSC Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games and saw Zambia defeat the hosts 3-0 in the Final, Zimbabwe finishing in 2nd place and Namibia in 3rd place after defeating Malawi 2-1.