2020 COSAFA U-20 Cup

2020 COSAFA Under-20 Cup
Tournament details
Host countryNelson Mandela Bay, South Africa
Dates3–13 December 2020
Teams11 (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue(s)3 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Mozambique (1st title)
Runners-up Namibia
Third place Angola
Fourth place Zambia
Tournament statistics
Matches played19
Goals scored40 (2.11 per match)
Top scorer(s)
  • Sinenjongo Mkiva (South Africa)
  • Ambrosini Salvador (Angola)
← 2019
2022 →

The 2020 COSAFA U-20 Cup was the 27th edition of the COSAFA U-20 Challenge Cup, an international youth football tournament open to national associations of the COSAFA region. It took place between 3 December and 13 December in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa.[1] Initially planned to be hosted by Mauritius, the competition was later shifted to South Africa after Mauritius withdrew as hosts due to the COVID-19 regulations. The matches were played at Port Elizabeth (Wolfson Stadium and Gelvandale Stadium).

The tournament was also the first qualifying round for the U-20 World Cup in Indonesia in 2021 as the finalists were qualified for the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, played in Mauritania where the semi-finalists will see themselves qualify for the World Cup.[2][3]

Participants

[4]

Match officials

Draw

The draw was made in Nelson Mandela Bay on 2 November. Last year's top nations were seeded into one group each and the rest of the teams were placed in 2 pots depending on last year's performance. From the first pot, teams were drawn and slotted consecutively into groups A, B, and C. The last team from pot 1 was then placed among the pot 2 teams to make them 5. Now the teams from the second pot were drawn and slotted consecutively into groups A, B, and C resulting that group C ended up with one less team.[5]

Seeded Pot 1 Pot 2

Note: Within brackets 2019 year's performance.

Group stage

The group stage will be played in 3 groups as a round-robin, where the group winners and the best runner up will advance to the semi-finals.[6][7]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Mozambique 3 2 1 0 3 0 +3 7 Advance to Semi-finals
2  South Africa (H) 3 1 2 0 9 2 +7 5
3  Zimbabwe 3 1 1 1 6 5 +1 4
4  Lesotho 3 0 0 3 1 12 −11 0
Source: COSAFA.com
(H) Hosts
Mozambique 1–0 Lesotho
Cipriano 9' Report
South Africa 2–2 Zimbabwe
  • Appollis 46'
  • Makola 90'
 Report
  • Mutimbanyoka 9'
  • Mujokoro 75'
Referee: (Ms) Letticia Viana (Eswatini)
Mozambique 2–0 Zimbabwe
  • Cipriano 57' (pen.)
  • Pinho 85'
Referee: Ishmael Chizinga (Malawi)
South Africa 7–0 Lesotho
  • Mohale 6' (o.g.)
  • Human 17'
  • Mvika 43' 62' 86'
  • Appollis 46'
  • Myeni 90+2'
Referee: Keabetswe Dintwa (Botswana)
South Africa 0–0 Mozambique
Report
Referee: Lebalang Martin Mokete (Lesotho)
Zimbabwe 4–1 Lesotho
 Report
Referee: Keabetswe Dintwa (Botswana)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Zambia 3 3 0 0 5 0 +5 9 Advance to Semi-finals
2  Namibia 3 2 0 1 3 2 +1 6
3  Malawi 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
4  Comoros 3 0 0 3 0 4 −4 0
Source: COSAFA.com
Malawi 1–0 Comoros
  • Monogeni 90+4'
Referee: Mathews Hamalila (Zambia)
Zambia 1–0 Namibia
  • Mashata 62'
Referee: Lebalang Martin Mokete (Lesotho)
Zambia 2–0 Comoros
  • Chishimba 3'
  • Bulaya 45+4'
Referee: Abongile Tom (South Africa)
Malawi 1–2 Namibia
  • Nkhoma 10'
  • Jantze 14'
  • Canavaro 45+3'
Referee: (Ms) Letticia Viana (Eswatini)
Zambia 2–0 Malawi
  • Mukeya 21', 68'
 Report
Namibia 1–0 Comoros
  • Damaseb 77'
 Report
Referee: (Ms) Letticia Viana (Eswatini)

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Angola 2 1 0 1 4 1 +3 3 Advance to Semi-finals
2  Eswatini 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3
3  Botswana 2 1 0 1 1 4 −3 3
Source: COSAFA.com
Angola 0–1 Eswatini
  • Ndlovu 77'
Referee: Abongile Tom (South Africa)
Botswana 0–4 Angola
  • Salvador 43' (pen.) 90+2'
  • Gastão 66' 90+4'
Botswana 1–0 Eswatini
  • Molefe 42'
 Report
Referee: Mathews M. Hamalila (Zambia)

Knockout stage

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
11 December – Wolfson Stadium
 
 
 Angola0
 
13 December – Wolfson Stadium
 
 Namibia1
 
 Namibia0
 
11 December – Wolfson Stadium
 
 Mozambique1
 
 Mozambique0 (5)
 
 
 Zambia0 (4)
 
Third place
 
 
13 December – Wolfson Stadium
 
 
 Angola2
 
 
 Zambia1

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.

Angola 0–1 Namibia
Report
  • Damaseb 63'
Mozambique 0–0 (5-4) Zambia
Report
Referee: Keabetswe Dintwa (Botswana)

Third-place match

Angola 2–1 Zambia
  • Afonso 21'
  • Salvador 37'
Referee: (Ms) Letticia Viana (Eswatini)

Final

Namibia 0–1 Mozambique
Report
  • Augusto 31'
Referee: Abongile Tom (South Africa)

Champions

 2020 COSAFA U-20 Championship champion 

Mozambique
First title

Qualification for CAF U20 Cup of Nations

The two finalists of the tournament qualified for the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.

Qualified nations:

References

  1. ^ "Southern Africa: South Africa Begin Preps for Cosafa Men's Under-20 Championship". allAfrica. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  2. ^ "COSAFA Men's Under-20 Champs starts journey to World Cup". Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Draw looms for COSAFA Men's Under-17 and Under-20 zonal qualifiers". Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  4. ^ "The 2020 COSAFA Men's Under-20 Championships in Numbers". Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Men's U17 and U20 teams to learn their COSAFA Championships fate on Monday". Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  6. ^ "COSAFA Men's U17 and U20 fixtures provide eye-catching entertainment". Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Cosafa U20, U17 Draws Unveiled". Zambia Reports. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.