Comoros will be seeking a build on a fine showing last time out when they compete in the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier 2025 in Maputo, Mozambique from September 26-October 5.
This year’s event is a preliminary competition for the continental finals and Comoros will want to shine again after winning two of their three games at the previous finals in Eswatini, though it was not quite enough to advance to the knockout stages.
They defeated Namibia 1-0 and Malawi 2-0, but a 4-0 defeat to South Africa left three teams in the pool on six points and Comoros missed out on head-to-head record.
But they showed a major improvement from previous years, when they had not won a game in six previous competitions.
They have been drawn in Group C this year alongside South Africa, Malawi and Lesotho, a tough pool but one they will feel is not insurmountable.
Only the top teams and the best runner-up across the three groups advance to the semifinals.
Comoros made their bow in 2007 when they exited in the first round, losing their only match 4-0 to Zimbabwe in what was a tough debut.
They were back the following year, but did not get past the group stages, and then withdrew in 2009, not appearing again until the 2013 event, where they managed a pair of draws against Lesotho (2-2) and Mauritius (0-0), but missed out on the knockout stages after losing 3-1 to Kenya.
The next finals were only held in 2016 but Comoros appeared again, drawing with Mozambique (2-2) before a loss to DR Congo (0-2) in a three-team pool.
They did not appear in the next two editions, but returned in 2019, losing all three games to Malawi (4-0), Zambia (2-0) and Botswana (2-1).
It was, unfortunately, a similar story in 2020 as all of their games ended in defeat as they went down to Malawi (1-0), Zambia (2-0) and Namibia (1-0), which still leaves them seeking that first win.
They have never before qualified for the TotalEnergies AFCON U20, so doing so this year would be a huge show of their potential.
COMOROS FINISHES IN LAST 17 YEARS
2007 – Group stages
2008 – Group stages
2013 – Group stages
2016 – Group stages
2019 – Group stages
2020 – Group stages
2022 – Group stages
