Under-20 Team Defends COSAFA Title

The national men’s Under-20 team is preparing to defend its title in the 2020 COSAFA Championship with its first match scheduled for Friday. The Zambian team will face Namibia, before taking on Comoros and Malawi as part of the Group B fixtures

The team arrived in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday ready for the tournament, which commenced on Thursday. Opening matches will see Mozambique take on Lesotho, and South Africa face Zimbabwe in Group A. Botswana, Angola and Eswatini make up Group C.

All matches will be streamed live on www.cosafa.tv, while the semifinals finals and final will be on SuperSport. The final will take place on December 13.

The 2020 Cosafa championship is being used as a qualifier for the 2021 Total Africa Cup of Nations U20 tournament to be held in Mauritania. The stakes are high as the top four sides in Mauritania will secure a place in the 2021 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in Indonesia from May 20 to June 12 2021.

Meanwhile, the Copper Queens saw their match against Chile cancelled on Wednesday of this week after four members of the Zambia team tested positive for COVID-19. The teams previously met last weekend in an international friendly, with the Copper Queens winning 2-1. The matches are part of the team's preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that have been rescheduled for 2021.