Zimbabwe and Senegal face-off in Cosafa Cup Group C
Zimbabwe land tough draw in Cosafa Cup
JOHANNESBURG, June 18 (ANA) – Zimbabwe will have their work cut out in Group C of the Cosafa Cup with West African guest nation Senegal drawn alongside the six-time winners of the competition.
The draw for the event was held on Thursday, and the tournament will be staged in Nelson Mandela Bay from July 7 to 18.
The group also includes Mozambique and 2015 Cosafa Cup winners Namibia.
Hosts South Africa also have an intriguing group that includes neighbours Lesotho, Botswana and eSwatini. Bafana Bafana – as South Africa are known – and Botswana have long been foes in this regional competition.
Defending champions Zambia will face Malawi, and the island nations of Madagascar and Comoros in their first round pool.
Only the top team in each group and the best placed runner-up will advance to the semi-finals in what is a change in format for the tournament this year.
That means each side is guaranteed three games, up to a maximum of five, which will provide vital preparation for those national teams involved in 2022 World Cup qualifiers later this year.
The Cosafa Cup is making a comeback after the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the COovid-19 pandemic. It will be hosted in Nelson Mandela Bay for the first time, which has been a familiar home for other Cosafa competitions in recent years.
Zimbabwe lead the way with most tournament wins with their six title-winning campaigns, followed by Zambia (five), South Africa (four), Angola (three) and Namibia (one).
Mozambique, Malawi and Botswana have all twice been finalists, but ended up on the losing side on both occasions. Lesotho (2000) are the only other team to reach the decider.
Group A: South Africa, Lesotho, eSwatini, Botswana
Group B:
Zambia, Malawi, Madagascar,Comoros
Goup C:
Senegal, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman