COSAFA Cup
The COSAFA Cup or COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup is an annual tournament for teams from Southern Africa organized by Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA), inaugurated after the ban against the Republic of South Africa had been lifted and the African Cup of Nations had been staged there in 1996.
|  | |
| Founded | 1997 | 
|---|---|
| Region | Southern Africa (COSAFA) | 
| Number of teams | 16 | 
| Current champions |  South Africa (5th title) | 
| Most successful team(s) |  Zimbabwe (6 titles) | 
| Website | http://www.cosafa.com | 
|  2021 COSAFA Cup | |

History
    
The following teams have participated in the tournament in the past: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Additionally, six non-COSAFA members have competed: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Zimbabwe has won the most titles with six wins, followed by Zambia and South Africa with five wins. The first editions of the competition were a knockout tournament staged over several months. As the competition grew, it transformed into a series of mini-tournaments.[1]
The 2010 COSAFA Senior Challenge was to be the 14th edition of the football tournament that involves teams from Southern Africa. In July 2010 it was confirmed that Angola would host the competition.[2] The 2010 edition of the competition was cancelled in October, 2010.[3] COSAFA stated that the Angolan authorities did not give enough guarantees to host the tournament.
Results
    
^n/a A round-robin tournament determined the final standings.
Teams reaching the top four
    
As of 2021
| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Third Place | Fourth Place | Semi-finalists | Top 4 Finishes | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Zimbabwe | 6 (2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2018) | 3 (1998, 2001, 2013) | 1 (2019) | 2 (2004, 2006) | 12 | |
|  Zambia | 5 (1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2019) | 6 (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2018) | 1 (2008) | 1 (2001) | 3 (1999, 2002, 2003) | 16 | 
|  South Africa | 5 (2002, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2021) | 1 (2013) | 1 (2009) | 2 (2000, 2005) | 9 | |
|  Angola | 3 (1999, 2001, 2004) | 1 (2006) | 1 (1998) | 2 (2000, 2005) | 7 | |
|  Namibia | 1 (2015) | 2 (1997, 1999) | 1 (1998) | 4 | ||
|  Mozambique | 2 (2008, 2015) | 2 (1997, 2009) | 1 (2021) | 2 (2004, 2007) | 7 | |
|  Malawi | 2 (2002, 2003) | 1 (2001) | 3 | |||
|  Botswana | 2 (2016, 2019) | 1 (2015) | 2 (2006, 2007) | 5 | ||
|  Lesotho | 1 (2000) | 1 (2018) | 3 (2013, 2017, 2019) | 5 | ||
|  Senegal | 1 (2021) | 1 | ||||
|  Eswatini[lower-alpha 1] | 2 (2016, 2021) | 3 (1999, 2002, 2003) | 5 | |||
|  Madagascar | 1 (2015) | 2 (2008, 2018) | 3 | |||
|  Tanzania | 1 (2017) | 1 (1997) | 2 | |||
|  DR Congo | 1 (2016) | 1 | 
Participating nations
    
- Legend
| 
 | 
 | 
 
 | 
| Team | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 20102 | 2013 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Angola | – | 3rd | 1st | SF | 1st | QF | 1R | 1st | SF | 2nd | 1R | QF | QF | x | QF | – | GS | GS | GS | ––1 | – | 16 | 
|  Botswana | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | QF | 1R | SF | SF | QF | QF | x | GS | 4th | 2nd | QF | QF | 2nd | GS | 20 | 
|  Comoros | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | GS | GS | x | – | – | – | – | GS | QF | ––1 | 4 | 
|  Eswatini[lower-alpha 1] | 1R | 1R | SF | QF | QF | SF | SF | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | GS | GS | x | GS | GS | 3rd | QF | QF | GS | 3rd | 20 | 
|  Lesotho | 1R | 1R | QF | 2nd | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | GS | GS | x | 4th | GS | QF | 4th | 3rd | 4th | GS | 20 | 
|  Madagascar | – | – | – | –– | – | QF | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 4th | ––1 | x | – | 3rd | GS | GS | 4th | – | ––1 | 11 | 
|  Malawi | 5th | 1R | 2R | QF | SF | 2nd | 2nd | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | GS | QF | x | QF | QF | GS | GS | GS | QF | GS | 20 | 
|  Mauritius | – | – | – | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | GS | GS | x | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | – | 16 | 
|  Mozambique | 3rd | 5th | QF | 1R | 1R | QF | QF | SF | 1R | 1R | SF | 2nd | 3rd | x | QF | 2nd | QF | GS | GS | GS | 4th | 19 | 
|  Namibia | 2nd | 4th | 2nd | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | QF | x | QF | 1st | QF | QF | QF | GS | GS | 20 | 
|  Seychelles | – | – | – | –– | – | – | – | – | 1R | 1R | 1R | GS | GS | x | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | – | 11 | 
|  South Africa | – | 1R | QF | SF | QF | 1st | QF | 1R | SF | 1R | 1st | 1st | 4º | x | 3rd | QF | 1st | QF | QF | QF | 1st | 19 | 
|  Zambia | 1st | 1st | SF | QF | SF | SF | SF | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | x | 1st | QF | QF | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | GS | 20 | 
|  Zimbabwe | 1R | 2nd | QF | 1st | 2nd | QF | 1st | SF | 1st | SF | 1R | QF | 1st | x | 2nd | GS | GS | 1st | 1st | 3rd | GS | 20 | 
| Guest Nations | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|  DR Congo* | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4th | – | – | – | – | 1 | 
|  Equatorial Guinea* | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ––1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | 
|  Ghana* | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | QF | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 
|  Kenya* | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | GS | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 
|  Senegal* | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2nd | 1 | 
|  Tanzania* | 4th | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ––1 | GS | – | 3rd | – | – | 3 | |
|  Uganda* | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | QF | – | 1 | 
| Total | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 0 (13) | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 10 | |
*D.R. Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania,Uganda and Senegal are not COSAFA members, but have been invited to participate in the past.
1 Withdrew from tournament.
2 Tournament not played.
General statistics
    
All stats except "Part" correct as of 1997.
| Rank | Team | Part | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Dif | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Zambia | 20 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 
| 2 |  Zimbabwe | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 
| 3 |  Angola | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 
| 4 |  South Africa | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 
| 5 |  Mozambique | 19 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 
| 6 |  Namibia | 20 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 
| 7 |  Malawi | 20 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 5 | 
| 8 |  Eswatini[lower-alpha 1] | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 | 
| 9 |  Madagascar | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 
| 10 |  Botswana | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 0 | |
| 11 |  Mauritius | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 
| 12 |  Lesotho | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 
| 13 |  Seychelles | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 
| 14 |  Comoros | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 
- Notes
- Competed as Swaziland until 2018.
Top scorers
    
Peter Ndlovu of Zimbabwe and Emmanuel 'Tico-Tico' Bucuane of Mozambique are all-time top goalscorers in the tournament with ten goals each. In 2021 Felix Badenhorst of Eswatini moved into second position with nine goals.[5]
| Year | Player | Goals | 
|---|---|---|
| 1998 |  Tauya Mrewa  Peter Ndlovu  Shepherd Muradzikwa  Benjamin Nkonjera | 2 | 
| 1999 |  Betinho | 3 | 
| 2000 |  Luke Petros  Delron Buckley | 2 | 
| 2001 | 18 players tied | 1 | 
| 2002 |  Mfanzile Dlamini  Rotson Kilambe  Teboho Mokoena  Siza Dlamini  Patrick Mayo | 2 | 
| 2003 |  Peter Ndlovu  Noel Mwandila  Russel Mwafulirwa | 2 | 
| 2004 |  Peter Ndlovu | 3 | 
| 2005 |  Collins Mbesuma | 4 | 
| 2006 |  Fabrice Akwa | 3 | 
| 2007 |  Paulin Voavy | 3 | 
| 2008 |  Phillip Zialor | 4 | 
| 2009 |  Cuthbert Malajila | 4 | 
| 2013 |  Jerome Ramatlhakwane | 4 | 
| 2015 |  Sarivahy Vombola | 5 | 
| 2016 |  Felix Badenhorst | 5 | 
| 2017 |  Ovidy Karuru | 6 | 
| 2018 |  Onkabetse Makgantai | 5 | 
| 2019 |  Gabadinho Mhango  Gerald Phiri Jr.  Ashley Nazira | 3 | 
| 2021 |  Sepana Letsoalo | 4 | 
References
    
- "COSAFA Tournament to continue". The Lusaka Times. 24 March 2008.
- Redvers, Lousie (29 July 2010). "Angola to Host Cosafa Cup in November". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 August 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
- Muchinjo, Enock (18 October 2010). "COSAFA tourney cancelled, hosts blamed". Daily News. Archived from the original on 17 April 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
- "COSAFA tourney cancelled, hosts blamed". 18 October 2010. Archived from the original on 17 April 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
- "Badenhorst makes Cosafa Cup history". The Namibian. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
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