Hosts Zimbabwe seek first Under-17 title in 18 years
The TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations 2026 | COSAFA Qualifiers will be staged in Harare, Zimbabwe from September 11-20 with 12 teams hoping to reach the continental finals that are to be held next year.
It will be fascinating to see which sides emerge to not only take the crown, but also advance with the chance of becoming African champions.
The final part of our team profiles looks at Zimbabwe, who are hosts this year but have not lifted the regional title in almost two decades.
ZIMBABWE
Last five tournament finishes:
2019 – Did not enter
2020 – Disqualified
2021 – Did not enter
2022 – Did not enter
2024 – Semifinals
For all their prowess as a regional powerhouse, Zimbabwe have only made the final of the COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship on one occasion, when they lifted the trophy in 2007.
They reached the semifinals in 1994 but lost 5-1 to South Africa and were beaten 1-0 by Zambia in the bronze-medal match.
They were also in the semifinals in 2024, but lost 2-0 to Angola. There was no bronze-medal match on that occasion.
They exited in the first round in 2001 after a 1-0 loss to South Africa and a 3-2 victory over Namibia, and did not compete in 2002.
Their crowning glory came in the 2007 competition as they topped their pool with wins over Angola (2-1) and Eswatini (3-1), that had followed a 1-1 draw with Namibia.
They defeated Zambia 5-4 on penalties in the semifinals after a 1-1 draw, and then edged South Africa on spot-kicks (4-2 after a 1-1 draw) in the decider.
The team did not compete in 2016 and lost all three pool matches in 2017, going down to Mauritius (1-0), Malawi (5-0) and Botswana (2-1).
It was a similar story in 2018 and they did not compete in 2019, while the team was disqualified from the 2020 tournament after several players were deemed ineligible. They also skipped the 2021 and 2022 tournaments.
