South Africa chase third straight COSAFA Under-20 crown
South Africa will be defending champions again when they take part in the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier from September 18-27, having lifted the trophy in the last two editions.
The team were also crowned African champions in Egypt in 2025, the first time in their history they had lifted the continental title.
It will be a new generation of stars who take part this year, though, as they have been drawn in Group B alongside Angola, Lesotho and Eswatini. The top team in each pool advances to the semifinals along with the best runner-up across the three groups.
South Africa have claimed the regional Under-20 competition 10 times in all, with their first title coming in 2000. They also hosted the tournament for 11 consecutive years between 1999 and 2009.
The side have qualified for the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 AFCON on nine previous occasions, winning gold last year and the silver medal in 1997.
South Africa went all the way to the final of the COSAFA Under-20 Championship on home soil in 2016, playing some scintillating football, but lost out to Zambia in the decider with a 2-1 defeat.
That was seen as a major disappointment, but they atoned for it with a run all the way to the gold medal in 2017.
After topping their pool with a full haul of nine points, ‘Amajita’ edged North African guest nation Egypt 1-0 in the semi-finals.
That set up a decider with Lesotho and South Africa emerged as 2-1 winners to take home the trophy.
They repeated that triumph in 2018, topping their shortened pool with victories over Mauritius and Eswatini, before a 1-0 win over Angola in the semi-finals.
That set up a final with old foes Zimbabwe and, after the match finished 1-1, South Africa claimed the penalty shoot-out 4-3.
They could not make it a hat-trick of titles, though, as they lost 3-0 in the 2019 final to Zambia.
They managed seven points in their first-round pool and then edged Madagascar 5-4 on penalties in the semi-finals following a 2-2 draw. They had also drawn 1-1 with the Malagasy in pool play.
The side disappointed in 2020 with a first group-stage exit in almost a decade, where a win over Lesotho (7-0) was coupled with draws against Zimbabwe (2-2) and Mozambique (0-0) as they finished runners-up in the pool.
They finished third in 2022, losing to Mozambique in the semi-finals but beating Angola on penalties to take the bronze medal.
But they bounced back in 2024, with group-stage wins over Malawi (5-0), Lesotho (6-0) and Comoros (2-0), before a semi-final success against Angola (1-0) and a final victory over Zambia (2-0).
And they followed that up in Namibia in 2025 with another title, this time defeating Malawi 3-0 in the final after edging Angola 2-0 in the semi-finals.
SOUTH AFRICA COSAFA UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP FINISHES SINCE 1999
1999 – Runners-up
2000 – Winners
2001 – Fourth
2002 – Third
2003 – Third
2004 – Winners
2005 – Fourth
2006 – Winners
2007 – Runners-up
2008 – Winners
2009 – Winners
2010 – Group stages
2011 – Group stages
2013 – Winners
2016 – Runners-up
2017 – Winners
2018 – Winners
2019 – Runners-up
2020 – Group stages
2022 – Third
2024 – Winners
2025 – Winners
