Zimbabwe hope for improvement at COSAFA schools qualifier
Zimbabwe could not quite seal victory on home soil in 2023 but will be hoping to go all the way in the Boys and Girls competitions at the CAF African Schools Football Championship | COSAFA Qualifier that will be staged in Stellenbosch, South Africa from December 5–7.
It will be the third time Zimbabwe enters the qualifiers, after they finished third on home soil in Harare in 2023 and were also competitive in Walvis Bay, Namibia in 2024.
The bronze medal two years ago came as they defeated Namibia 1-0 in the third-place play-off.
They were undone in their search for gold with a 4-0 loss to Malawi in their opening match. After that they turned on the style to beat Botswana 4-1, Eswatini 3-1 and Mozambique 3-0, but it was not enough to get into the decider ahead of the Malawians.
There were some superb individual performances though, not least from El Shaddai Sadomba, who claimed the Golden Boot award with his six goals in four games.
It was more of a struggle for the Girls’ side as they beat Eswatini 5-1, but lost to Malawi (0-3), Botswana (0-1) and Mozambique (0-3) and were not in contention for the final.
The Boys went out in the group stages in 2024 after 1-0 losses to South Africa and Eswatini, and then a 1-1 draw with Angola. They will certainly hope to improve on that this time round.
The Girls reached the semifinals despite a 7-0 loss to South Africa in their opener, as they then drew with Eswatini (1-1) and thumped Angola (8-0). They lost 2-1 to Malawi in their last-four clash.
Zimbabwe did not compete at the inaugural CAF ASFC zonal qualifier in Malawi in 2022.
The country has long produced excellent footballers though, and a key part of that is schools football.
Some of the greatest names to come out of the Southern African region have been from Zimbabwe, and it will be exciting to see their next generation of stars at Under-15 level.
The draw for this year’s 11-team tournament will be made a few days before the competition.
ZIMBABWE’S PAST FINISHES
BOYS
2022: Did not enter
2023: Third
2024: Group Stage
GIRLS
2022: Did not enter
2023: Group Stage
2024: Semifinals
ZIMBABWE’S PAST RESULTS
BOYS
2023
Zimbabwe 0-4 Malawi
Zimbabwe 4-1 Botswana
Zimbabwe 3-0 Mozambique
Zimbabwe 3-1 Eswatini
Zimbabwe 1-0 Namibia
2024
South Africa 1-0 Zimbabwe
Eswatini 1-0 Zimbabwe
Angola 1-1 Zimbabwe
GIRLS
2023
Zimbabwe 0-3 Malawi
Zimbabwe 0-1 Botswana
Zimbabwe 5-1 Eswatini
Zimbabwe 0-3 Mozambique
2024
South Africa 7-0 Zimbabwe
Eswatini 1-1 Zimbabwe
Angola 0-8 Zimbabwe
Malawi 2-1 Zimbabwe
