When: December 14-16, 2023
Where: Gateway High School, Harare, Zimbabwe
What: CAF African Schools Championship | COSAFA Qualifier, Zimbabwe 2023
How to follow streaming of matches online: FIFA+

The COSAFA qualifier for the CAF African Schools Championship will be played over three days in Harare, Zimbabwe, where some of the best girls and boys in the Under-15 age-group will be able to showcase their talent and win a place at the continental finals.

WHO IS PLAYING?
Boys’ and Girls’ teams from 11 COSAFA countries are scheduled to compete at the tournament:
Angola
Botswana
Eswatini
Madagascar
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia
Seychelles
South Africa
Zambia
Zimbabwe
 

WHAT IS THE FORMAT?
The Boys’ and Girls’ competitions will both have three pools in a first round group stage. Two groups will have four teams and one will contain three. Teams will play each other in a round-robin format. The top teams in each pool advance to the semifinals, along with the best placed runner-up across the pools. The competition will thereafter revert to a knockout format with the semifinal winners advancing to the final. There will also be play-off matches to determine the teams finishing fifth to eight.

TIE-BREAKERS
Should two teams finish level on points in the group phase, the following will be used to separate them: The highest number of points obtained in the match between the two concerned teams; the goal difference in all group matches; the highest number of goals scored in the whole group matches; a drawing of lots conducted by the Organizing Committee.

WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC REGULATIONS FOR THIS COMPETITION?
The Boys’ tournament will see 11 players per side compete on a full-size pitch. The Girls’ tournament will see eight players per side compete on a half-size pitch. The matches in both the Boys’ and Girls’ tournaments are 20 minutes per half with a 10-minute halftime break. There are unlimited substitutions, meaning coaches can keep rotating the players they have on the pitch.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
There are various other activities that will take place around the competition.

Young Referees Workshop
A workshop for young referees, giving participants a life-changing opportunity to be schooled by some of the best on the continent and set them on a path to a long career as an official. There will be both a practical and theory element to the course that will be staged over two days.

Young Coaches Workshop
A five-day D-License course for young coaches, another excellent chance to upskill budding tacticians through the knowledge and insight of some of the best practitioners on the continent.

Young Reporters Workshop
Budding media moguls will be taken through their paces in a workshop for journalists that gives them an insight into every aspect of running a media campaign at a major competition.

Emergency Medical Workshop
An emergency medical workshop will be staged to take participants through special procedures around football.

Safeguarding Workshop
All the boys and girls at the event will be taken through safeguarding activities at some to not only provide them with information on the social impact of football, but also explain the measures that CAF have put in place to create a safe environment for the children.