30 August 2019 – We round up all the facts and figures around the 2019 COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championships to be staged in Blantyre, Malawi.
0 – No nation from the COSAFA region has managed to lift the African Under-17 Championship in the past. South Africa came closest when they picked up a silver medal in 2015. Angola took home bronze in 2019.
1 – Malawi will play host to the COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship for the first time and become the fourth host nation overall. South Africa and Mauritius (three each) have staged the tournament the greatest number of times before, while Namibia have hosted once.
2 – There will be two venues used for the championships, namely the Kamuzu Stadium and Mpira Stadium, which are both in Blantyre.
3 – Mauritius were hosts of the championship for the previous three years between 2016 and 2018, and will stage the inaugural COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship between September 20-29 this year.
5 – There have been seven other tournaments played loosely under the banner of a regional Men’s Under-17 championship. South Africa have won two of these in 1994 and 2002, Malawi claimed success in 2001. Zimbabwe lifted the title in 2007, while Namibia were victorious in 2016, Zambia in 2017 and Angola claimed the title last year.
6 – Prins Tjiueza from Namibia was named Golden Boot winner in last year’s competition when he netted six goals, two more than Osvaldo Capemba of Angola.
6 – South Africa have reached the greatest number of finals in this age-group with six, but have only won in two of those. They were beaten 1-0 by Angola in the decider last year.
8 – There will be eight teams entered into the 2019 COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship, namely Angola, Comoros, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.
11 – The most goals scored in a single game in last year’s championship was 11 as Namibia beat Seychelles 8-3.
11 – The 2019 COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship starts on October 11 and runs to October 20.
14 – The COSAFA Under-17 Championship is open to all 14 of the nations that make up the Southern African regional body.
16 – The 2019 COSAFA Under-17 Championship features 16 matches, 12 in the first round group stage, two semifinals, a third-place play-off and a final.
69 – There were 69 goals scored in the 22 matches played at the 2018 COSAFA Under-17 Championship, an average of more than three per game!