Cosafa's U15 schools teams clash at Walvis Bay

Hosts Namibia will face a tough schedule at the CAF African Schools Football Championship’s Cosafa Qualifier 2024, following the official draw held in Walvis Bay on Wednesday.

All matches between the eight competing nations will be played on two pitches at the Jan Wilken Stadium.

Eight teams from around the Southern African region battle for a single place at the continental finals in both the boys and girls competitions.

At Wednesday’s draw the teams were placed as follows (same for boys and girls):

Pool A: Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho.

Pool B: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Eswatini.

The top two teams in each pool advance to the semifinals, and only the victor who lifts the trophy earns a place at the continental showpiece event.

It will be the third staging of the Under-15 regional qualifiers after Lilongwe, Malawi in 2022 and Harare, Zimbabwe in 2023, both of which were won by South Africa in the boys and girls categories.

There is a change to the girls competition this year as it will be 11-a-side (as opposed to 8-a-side previously) and played on a full-size pitch. In previous tournaments they played half-size.

The format moved away from individual schools in 2023, but South Africa prevailed in the boys’ competition with a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Malawi in the decider, while the SA girls’ team beat Botswana 3-1.

In this year’s continental finals in Zanzibar in May, the winners of both the boys’ and girls’ competition each received USD300 000 prize money to be utilised for development projects within schools.

The runners-up received USD 200 000, while the bronze medalists took home USD150 000.

“Schools football is at the heart of the long-term development and growth of African football. One of the best investments that we can make to ensure that African football is amongst the best world, is to invest in schools’ football and football infrastructure for boys and girls at school, amateur and professional level,” CAF president Dr Patrice Motsepe has said previously.

The boys and girls teams will compete concurrently, with matches played on two pitches at the Jan Wilken Stadium, ensuring that fans get a full weekend of football action. Games will kick off at 09:00 on both days, with the final match of the day starting at 15:30.



Continental glory

The stakes are high, as the winners in both the boys and girls competitions will earn a place in the CAF African Schools Football Championship continental phase, set for April–May 2025. The venue for the continental competition is yet to be confirmed.



FRIDAY FIXTURES

1 Namibia v Malawi (Boys) 09:00

2 Namibia v Malawi (Girls) 09:00

3 Zambia v Lesotho (Boys) 10:00

4 Zambia v Lesotho (Girls) 10:00

5 South Africa v Zimbabwe (Boys) 11:00

6 South Africa v Zimbabwe (Girls) 11:00

7 Angola v Eswatini (Boys) 12:00

8 Angola v Eswatini (Girls) 12:00

Opening ceremony 13:10–13:20

11 Namibia v Zambia (Boys) 13:30

10 Namibia v Zambia (Girls) 13:30

11 Malawi v Lesotho (Boys) 14:30

12 Malawi v Lesotho (Girls) 14:30

13 South Africa v Angola (Boys) 15:30

14 South Africa v Angola (Girls) 15:30



SATURDAY FIXTURES

15 Zimbabwe v Eswatini (Boys) 09:00

16 Zimbabwe v Eswatini (Girls) 09:00

17 Namibia v Lesotho (Boys) 10:00

18 Namibia v Lesotho (Girls) 10:00

19 Zambia v Malawi (Boys) 11:00

20 Zambia v Malawi (Girls) 11:00

21 South Africa v Eswatini (Boys) 12:00

22 South Africa v Eswatini (Girls) 12:00

23 Angola v Zimbabwe (Boys) 13:00

24 Angola v Zimbabwe (Girls) 13:00

Semifinals

25 Winner A v Runner-up B (Boys) 15:00

26 Winner A v Runner-up B (Girls) 15:00

27 Winner B v Runner-up A (Boys) 16:00

28 Winner B v Runner-up A (Girls) 16:00



SUNDAY

29 Girls FINAL, 09:00

30 Boys FINAL, 10:00