11 March 2020 – We round up all the facts and figures around the 2020 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championships to be staged in Mauritius from April 17-26. The draw for the finals will be held on Wednesday at 12h00.
0 – You don’t have to miss a minute of the 2020 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship action with the draw and matches streamed live on www.cosafa.tv.
0 – There is no formal African Women’s Under-17 Championship, merely rounds of two-legged knockout ties that decide which teams will advance to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup every two years.
1 – Uganda were the inaugural winners of the COSAFA Under-17 Women’s Championship after they beat South Africa 2-1 in the decider.
1 – South Africa captain Jessica Wade, who will return to lead the team this year, was named the inaugural Player of the Tournament in the 2019 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship.
2 – Uganda were the second guest nation to win a COSAFA tournament after Tanzania broke the mould by claiming the Women’s Under-20 Championship just a few months before in Nelson Mandela Bay.
2 – The COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship will be played for the second time this year after the inaugural staging in 2019, which was also held in Mauritius.
2 – There will be two venues scheduled to be used for the championships, namely the St. François Xavier Stadium in Port Louis and Auguste Vollaire Stadium in Flacq.
2 – The eight competing teams are split into two groups of four, but only the top two sides in each pool advance to the semifinals.
2 – South Africa and Zambia are the only two COSAFA nations to have appeared at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. South Africa managed the feat in 2010 and 2018, while Zambia were there in 2014.
3 – Zambia defeated Botswana 3-0 to claim the bronze medal for third place in the championship last year.
3 – The Women’s Under-17 Championship is one of three COSAFA events to be staged for female footballers this year, deepening the organisation’s commitment to growing the women’s game in Southern Africa.
4 – Only four nations from the COSAFA region have entered the qualifiers for the FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup before – Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia. With the establishment of the COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship, that number should rise.
5 – Mauritius were hosts of the COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship for the previous three years between 2016 and 2018, and now stage the COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship for the second year running, taking their total commitment to five years in this age-group.
5 – Only five African nations entered the qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup, with two of those from the COSAFA region – Botswana and South Africa.
6 – The Women’s Under-17 Championship is one of six tournaments scheduled to be hosted by COSAFA in 2020, three each in the male and female category. Both will stage Senior, Under-20 and Under-17 championships.
8 – There will be eight teams entered into the 2020 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship, namely Botswana, Comoros Islands, Eswatini, Malawi, Mauritius, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
14 – The COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship is open to all 14 of the nations that make up the Southern African regional body, while Reunion, as an associate member, may also enter tournaments.
16 – The 2020 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship features 16 matches, 12 in the first round group stage, two semifinals, a third-place play-off and a final.
17 – The 2020 COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship starts on April 17 and runs through to April 26.
18 – Juliet Nalukenge from champions Uganda finished as the leading scorer in last year’s championship with 18 goals in the five matches she played.
28 – The number of goals scored by South Africa as they overwhelmed Seychelles in their Group B clash in 2019. It was the biggest score in an international match in Africa, the biggest winning margin in a women’s competitive international and the largest margin of victory by any South African team.
36 – South Africa scored the most goals in pool play in 2019, with 36 in their three group matches. They were also the only side to advance with a full haul of nine points.
158 – There were a massive 158 goals scored in the 16 games in the championship in 2019, an average of almost 10 per page!