All the records that have been set in the HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Cup down the years ahead of the latest edition which will be played in Durban from July 5-16.
MOST TITLES WON
6 – Zimbabwe (2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2018) and Zambia (1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2019, 2022) have each won the COSAFA Cup on six occasions.
MOST TITLES IN A ROW
2 – Zambia (1997, 1998), South Africa (2007, 2008) and Zimbabwe (2017, 2018) have each won back-to-back titles. No country has won the competition three times in a row.
MOST RUNNERS-UP
6 – Zambia have been runners-up on six occasions in their history (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2018), the most of any nation. The next highest is three each for Zimbabwe (1998, 2001, 2013) and Namibia (1997, 1999, 2022).
MOST SEMIFINALS
15 – Zambia have been to the semifinals on 15 occasions (since the competition had a semifinal round in 1999). Zimbabwe have appeared in the next most with 12.
EVERPRESENTS
21 – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia are the only nations to appear in every COSAFA Cup staged.
MOST MATCHES PLAYED
65 – Zambia have featured in the most games over the last 26 years. They have won 32, drawn 22 and lost 11.
MOST WINS
35 – Zimbabwe have managed the most wins in the COSAFA Cup. Their 35 victories have come from 58 matches, with 15 draws and eight defeats.
MOST DRAWS
22 – Zambia have been involved in the most draws in the COSAFA Cup.
MOST DEFEATS
25 – Mozambique have suffered the most defeats down the years with 25 in their 57 matches played.
MOST TEAM GOALS SCORED
103 – Zimbabwe lead the way with 103 goals scored in their 58 games to date.
MOST GOALS CONCEDED
74 – Mozambique have conceded the most goals down the years with 74 in their 57 games.
MOST PLAYER GOALS SCORED
9 – Former Eswatini forward Felix Badenhorst has scored the most goals by an individual in the COSAFA Cup. He netted five goals as Eswatini finished third in 2016 and added another goal in 2017 and then two more in 2019. He moved to the top of the list as greatest scorer in the competition’s history with a goal in a 3-1 win over Lesotho in 2021.
MOST GOALS SCORED BY A PLAYER IN A TOURNAMENT
6 – Ovidy Karuru holds the record for the most goals scored in a single COSAFA Cup tournament when he netted six in the 2017 campaign.
BIGGEST WIN
7-0 – Seychelles stunned Mauritius with a 7-0 victory in 2008, still their only ever win in the COSAFA Cup. That remains the biggest ever win in the competition.
MOST GOALS IN A GAME
7 – Seychelles’ win over Mauritius in 2008 had seven goals, as did the 4-3 semifinal win for Zimbabwe over Lesotho in 2017 and the victory by the same margin for Zambia over Senegal in the semifinals in 2022. Zimbabwe also defeated Namibia 5-2 in the pool stages in 1998.
MOST TOURNAMENT WINS AS A COACH
4 – Zimbabwe’s Sunday Chidzambwa is the most successful coach in COSAFA Cup history with four titles, won in 2005, 2009, 2017 and 2018. He has never been beaten outright in a COSAFA Cup match, having coached in 19 games.
