Botswana hope for first-ever final spot at regional U20 tournament
Botswana will be seeking a rare place in the knockout stages of a COSAFA Under-20 tournament when they compete at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier Mauritius 2026 from September 18-27.
The Young Zebras have only qualified for the knockout rounds twice in the last 27 years, most often falling short in the pool stages.
This year they have been drawn with record 12-time winners Zambia, Malawi and Comoros in Group C, a tough assignment against strong teams from the region. Only the top team in each group and the best runner-up across the three pools advance to the semi-finals.
Botswana have been regular participants in the regional Under-20 Championship, despite missing the tournament in 2017.
Their best finishes in the competition came in 2009 and 2011, when they claimed third place.
In 2009, they beat Madagascar 3-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the bronze-medal play-off. The Young Zebras had made it through their pool before losing 3-0 to South Africa in the semi-finals.
In 2011, on home soil, they lost to Zambia in the semi-finals before beating Malawi to claim bronze.
In 2016, the side lost all three of their pool games without scoring a goal, while in 2018 they claimed four points from three matches with a victory over Lesotho, a draw with Angola and a defeat to Zimbabwe.
It was a similar story in 2019, when a 5-0 loss to hosts and eventual champions Zambia was followed by a 2-2 draw with Malawi and a 2-1 win over Comoros.
They came mighty close to a place in the knockout stages in 2020 as they lost 4-0 to Angola but beat Eswatini 1-0, a result that left all three sides on three points in the three-team group. It was therefore decided on head-to-head and Botswana missed out.
In Eswatini in 2022, they beat Mauritius 1-0 but lost to hosts Eswatini and eventual winners Zambia and did not advance, while in 2024 they finished runners-up in their pool behind Zimbabwe.
It was a similar story in 2025, when they beat Eswatini 3-1 in their opening pool game but then lost to South Africa (3-0) and Zambia (1-0).
Botswana have never qualified for the CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, something they will be hoping to change this year.
BOTSWANA’S COSAFA UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP FINISHES SINCE 1999
1999 – Group stages
2000 – Group stages
2001 – Group stages
2002 – Group stages
2003 – Group stages
2004 – Group stages
2005 – Group stages
2006 – Group stages
2007 – Group stages
2008 – Group stages
2009 – Third
2010 – Group stages
2011 – Third
2013 – Group stages
2016 – Group stages
2017 – Did not enter
2018 – Group stages
2019 – Group stages
2020 – Group stages
2022 – Group stages
2024 – Group stages
2025 – Group stages
