COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championships in Numbers
The Girls’ Under-17 football tournament at the Region 5 Games Maseru 2020 from December 1-9 will also serve as the regional championship for COSAFA this year.
We take a look at all the numbers surrounding what is ultimately a third staging of an Under-17 championship for girls by COSAFA.
0 – You don’t have to miss a minute of the Girls’ tournament at the Region 5 Games Maseru 2020 with allmatches streamed live on www.cosafa.tv.
0 – There is no formal African Women’s Under-17 Championship, merely rounds of two-legged knockout ties that decide which teams will advance to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup every two years. The next staging is set for 2022.
1 – Uganda were the inaugural winners of the COSAFA Under-17 Women’s Championship after they beat South Africa 2-1 in the decider in Mauritius in 2019.
1 – Lesotho will host the tournament for the first time. Mauritius (2019) and South Africa (2020) have been the other two hosts.
1 – South Africa captain Jessica Wade was named the inaugural Player of the Tournament in the 2019 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship. Tisilile Lungu of Zambia won the Player of the Tournament prize in 2020.
1 – There is just a single scheduled venue for the championships, namely the Setsoto Stadium in Maseru.
2 – Uganda were the second guest nation to win a COSAFA tournament in 2019 after Tanzania broke the mould by claiming the Women’s Under-20 Championship just a few months before in Nelson Mandela Bay. Since then, Tanzania have also won the COSAFA senior women and Under-17 titles!
2 – The seven competing teams are to be split into two pools. Group A has four teams, namely Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, and Comoros, while Group B has three – South Africa, Mauritius, and Namibia. The top two sides in each pool advance to the semifinals.
2 – South Africa and Zambia are the only two COSAFA nations to have appeared at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. South Africa managed the feat in 2010 and 2018, while Zambia were there in 2014.
3 – The COSAFA Under-17 Championships are one of three women’s events that are scheduled in a ‘normal’ year, along with the COSAFA Women’s Championship and COSAFA Women’s Under-20 Championship.
4 – Zambia won all four group games at the championship last year and were the only team with a 100% record but lost the final on penalties to Tanzania after a 1-1 draw.
4 – Only four nations from the COSAFA region have entered the qualifiers for the FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup before – Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia. With the establishment of the COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship, that number should rise.
5 – Only five African nations entered the qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup, with two of those from the COSAFA region – Botswana and South Africa.
10 – Aisha Masaka of Tanzania was the leading scorer in the 2020 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship with 10 goals. She has since been elevated to the senior women’s team and scored at the 2021 COSAFA Women’s Championship!
11 – The most goals scored in a game at the 2020 championship was 11 as eventual champions Tanzania defeated Zimbabwe 10-1 in the pool stages.
12– The format of the Girls competition at the Region 5 Games Maseru 2020 features 12 matches, nine in the first-round group stage, two semifinals and a final.
14 – The COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship is open to all 14 of the nations that make up the Southern African regional body, while Reunion, as an associate member, may also enter tournaments.
18 – Juliet Nalukenge from champions Uganda finished as the leading scorer in the 2019 championship with 18 goals in the five matches she played.
28 – The number of goals scored by South Africa as they overwhelmed Seychelles in their Group B clash in 2019. It was the biggest score in an international match in Africa, the biggest winning margin in a women’s competitive international and the largest margin of victory by any South African team.
63 – There were 63 goals scored in the reduced format of the 2020 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship. Those came from 11 games.
158 – There were a massive 158 goals scored in the 16 games in the championship in 2019, an average of almost 10 per match!
