Seychelles will make a return to the COSAFA Men’s regional championships having missed last three tournaments, the latter two due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

They enter the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier at the Region 5 Games Lilongwe 2022 from December 2-11 with high hopes, but are in a difficult pool that also includes Zambia, who they face on December 5, and Mozambique, a clash they play two days later. Only the top team in each pool automatically advances to the semifinals along with the best-placed runner-up, with the two finalists booking a ticket to Algeria..

The island nation has often punched above their weight and will be eager to test their new young crop of stars against the top sides from around the region.

Their previous appearance was in 2018 when they were defeated in all three matches.

They lost their opener 8-3 to Namibia, before a narrow 2-1 defeat to Botswana. They ended their campaign with a 6-1 loss to hosts Mauritius.

It was a similar story in their appearance before in 2016 that when they were also defeated in all three games.    They narrowly lost 1-0 to regional powerhouse South Africa, before a defeat by the same scoreline to hosts Mauritius.

Fatigue took its toll in the third game as they went down 4-1 to eventual winners Namibia.

Seychelles have also previously appeared on the continental stage in Under-17 football when they hosted the African championships in 2001.

They found the going tough though after defeats to Cameroon (0-5), Burkina Faso (1-4) and Mali (0-8), who eventually finished third.

Last five tournament finishes:
2017 – Did not enter
2018 – Group Stages
2019 – Did not enter
2020 – Did not enter
2021 – Did not enter