10 September 2019 – The COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship will be played for a fourth year in a row in Blantyre, Malawi from October 11-20, the most consistent period of tournaments in its history after a nine-year hiatus between 2007 and 2016.
All three of those tournaments were played in Mauritius, but the competition now switches to Malawi where it will be staged for the second time.
Eight sides will enter the 2019 edition, namely Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.
To find out form, here is how these sides have fared in the last three competitions.
ANGOLA
P W D L GF GA
5 5 0 0 15 1
Angola were comfortably the best team in the 2018 tournament and lifted the trophy, setting them on the eventual path to the 2019 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Brazil next month. They did not compete in 2016 or 2017.
BOTSWANA
P W D L GF GA
6 3 0 3 6 8
Botswana appeared in the last two installments but went out in the first round on both occasions, though in 2018 they were somewhat unlucky having missed out on a semifinal place on goal-difference.
COMOROS
P W D L GF GA
0 0 0 0 0 0
The Comoros will be competing at the COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship for the first time in their history.
LESOTHO
P W D L GF GA
3 0 1 2 1 3
Lesotho competed last year after skipping 2016 and 2017, and failed to pick up a victory, managing only a draw with South Africa to go with defeats to Zambia and Mozambique.
MALAWI
P W D L GF GA
13 9 1 3 27 9
Malawi have been to all three tournaments since 2016 and have picked up two bronze medals in the first of those, before bowing out in the first round in 2018 despite winning two of their three matches.
MOZAMBIQUE
P W D L GF GA
6 3 1 2 7 5
Mozambique will appear at a third successive tournament and will hope to do better than their first round exits in 2017 and 2018. They were unlucky to miss out in the first of those on goal-difference.
SOUTH AFRICA
P W D L GF GA
15 9 2 4 31 15
South Africa are the only team in this year’s competition who have reached the semifinals of the COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship for the last three years, though they have yet to lift the title after silver medals in 2016 and 2018, and a fourth place in 2017. No teams has played more games, got more wins, or scored more goals.
ZAMBIA
P W D L GF GA
11 8 1 1 27 6
Zambia have been to all three previous tournaments, though they faced disqualification after the first round in 2016 for fielding ineligible players. They bounced back to lift the title in emphatic style in 2017, and then exited in the pool stages last year.