15 November 2019 – Defending champions South Africa have been drawn in Group B of the 2019 COSAFA Men’s Under 20 Championships alongside Lesotho, Madagascar and Mauritius.
The tournament will take place in Lusaka from 4-14 December.
The 12 teams have been drawn into three groups each containing four sides, with the top team in each pool advancing to the semifinals along with the best-placed runner-up.
The South African U-20 Men’s National Team, Amajita, has won the previous two editions of the competition.
Amajita (four titles) and Zambia (three) are the only countries to have lifted the trophy in the last seven tournaments to have been played since 2009.
Two venues are scheduled to be used this year, the Nkoloma and Woodlands stadia in Lusaka.
Hosts Zambia have been drawn in Group A in a tough first round pool with old foe Malawi, Comoros Islands and tricky Botswana.
Group C is also a tough one to call with Angola, Mozambique, Eswatini and Seychelles all in the mix.
“I think Group A seems to be the toughest group but we are ready for the task. We have been meeting these teams before, we will definitely deliver seeing as we are hosting,” said Zambia captain Prince Mumba.
Matches will be broadcast live on COSAFA TV so that fans from around the world can follow the young stars.
The championship is the culmination of a busy 12 months for COSAFA, that has also seen the staging of the Men’s Senior and Under-17 championships, and Women’s Senior, Under-20 and Under-17 finals, a record six competitions.
COSAFA Men’s Under-20 Championship Draw:
Group A
A1 – Zambia
A2 – Malawi
A3 – Comoros Islands
A4 – Botswana
Group B
B1 – South Africa
B2 – Lesotho
B3 – Madagascar
B4 – Mauritius
Group C
C1 – Angola
C2 – Mozambique
C3 – Eswatini
C4 – Seychelles