History of the COSAFA Under-20 Championship
For more than four decades, the COSAFA Men’s Under-20 Championship has been one of Southern African football’s great production lines, providing a stage for young players to announce themselves before going on to shine for club and country.
Since the competition was first played in 1983, there have been 30 editions and only five different champions. Zambia lead the way with 12 titles, followed by South Africa with 10 and Zimbabwe with six, while Madagascar and Mozambique have one each. That means the region’s traditional ‘big three’ have collected 28 of the 30 titles – more than 93% of those available.
But the real value of the competition has always gone well beyond the trophy.
The list of players who have passed through the tournament reads like a Who’s Who of Southern African football. South Africa have fielded future Bafana Bafana stars such as Itumeleng Khune, Daine Klate and Lyle Foster, while Clifford Mulenga, Patson Daka and Isaac Chansa of Zambia, Zimbabwe duo Tinashe Nengomasha and Onismor Bhasera, and Malawi’s Jimmy Zakazaka are among the many others who used the Under-20 stage as a springboard to successful senior careers.
The story began 42 years before the most recent edition, in 1983, when the tournament was a relatively modest gathering involving some of the region’s established football nations, including Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Botswana.
South Africa were absent during the Apartheid era and only entered the competition for the first time in 1993.
Those early years belonged almost exclusively to the ‘Two Zs’. Zambia won six and Zimbabwe three of the first nine editions, meaning every title from 1983 through to 1999 went to one of those two countries.
Zambia were particularly dominant, claiming four successive tournaments in 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999 before South Africa finally broke the duopoly at the turn of the century.
Amajita had already served notice of what was to come by reaching the finals in 1995 and 1999, but in 2000 they became the first nation other than Zambia or Zimbabwe to lift the trophy.
South Africa also became the tournament’s home for a long period, hosting 11 successive editions between 1999 and 2009, an era in which they increasingly emerged as a regional powerhouse at this age-group level.
There were some memorable finals during that period, none more so than South Africa’s extraordinary 5-4 victory over Zambia in 2004. The nine goals remain the most scored in a COSAFA Men’s Under-20 final.
A year later came one of the great surprises in the competition’s history.
Madagascar became only the fourth nation to win the trophy when they defeated another unlikely finalist, Lesotho, 1-0 in the 2005 decider. It remains Madagascar’s only title and was a reminder that the established powers could be toppled.
Zambia reasserted their authority with victories in 2010 and 2011, before South Africa returned to the summit in Lesotho in 2013.
Chipolopolo then claimed their 10th regional title in 2016, defeating hosts South Africa 2-1 in the final, but Amajita responded with back-to-back crowns.
South Africa lifted the trophy in 2017 and retained it in 2018, the latter triumph coming after a tense penalty shoot-out victory over Zimbabwe following a 1-1 draw.
Zambia struck back on home soil in 2019 with an emphatic 3-0 victory over South Africa in the final, taking their tally to 11 titles.
Then came another new name on the trophy.
Mozambique had long produced outstanding football talent but had never won the regional Under-20 title until 2020, when they put together a superb run to become the competition’s fifth different champion.
The Young Mambas had to do it the hard way. They came through a group that included South Africa, defeated powerhouse Zambia on penalties in the semi-finals and then edged Namibia 1-0 in the decider to claim their maiden COSAFA title at any age-group level.
Zambia reclaimed their familiar place at the top in 2022, defeating defending champions Mozambique 1-0 in the final to secure a record-extending 12th title.
There was no tournament in 2023, but South Africa returned with a vengeance in 2024.
Amajita were outstanding in Mozambique, winning the title without conceding a goal and beating Zambia 2-0 in the final. It was their ninth regional crown and, even more importantly, booked their ticket to the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
What followed provided perhaps the greatest illustration yet of the value of the COSAFA pathway.
South Africa went on to win the 2025 TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, their first continental crown at this level, and then returned to regional competition at the Region 5 Games in Windhoek a few weeks later.
They defeated Malawi 3-0 in the 2025 final to successfully defend their COSAFA title and move into double figures with a 10th regional crown.
That leaves Zambia and South Africa with an extraordinary 22 of the 30 titles between them, while Zimbabwe’s six crowns ensure the three traditional giants account for all but two championships in the competition’s history.
But the importance of the COSAFA Men’s Under-20 Championship cannot simply be measured in medals.
For more than four decades it has provided young players with an opportunity to experience international tournament football, deal with the pressure of knockout matches and test themselves against the best of their generation in the region.
With the 2026 tournament to be staged in Mauritius as the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2027 | COSAFA Qualifier, another generation will now get its opportunity to add to that rich history. South Africa enter as back-to-back champions, while Zambia continue their pursuit of a record-extending 13th title.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
1983 – Zambia
1985 – Zimbabwe
1986 – Zambia
1988 – Zimbabwe
1990 – Zimbabwe
1993 – Zambia
1995 – Zambia
1997 – Zambia
1999 – Zambia
2000 – South Africa
2001 – Zimbabwe
2002 – Zimbabwe
2003 – Zambia
2004 – South Africa
2005 – Madagascar
2006 – South Africa
2007 – Zimbabwe
2008 – South Africa
2009 – South Africa
2010 – Zambia
2011 – Zambia
2013 – South Africa
2016 – Zambia
2017 – South Africa
2018 – South Africa
2019 – Zambia
2020 – Mozambique
2022 – Zambia
2024 – South Africa
2025 – South Africa
TITLE WINS
12 – Zambia
10 – South Africa
6 – Zimbabwe
1 – Madagascar
1 – Mozambique
