South Africa secured their second successive TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations COSAFA Qualifier title, defeating hosts Mozambique 2–1 in Sunday’s final. The Amajita completed the tournament unbeaten, winning all five matches.
Goals from Oarabile Booysen and Steven Mendes gave South Africa the victory. The Amajita retained the regional crown for the second consecutive year and will join Mozambique as the two COSAFA qualifiers at the continental finals in Ghana next year.
Zambia captured the bronze medal with a 3–0 win over Namibia in the third‑place play‑off, concluding the tournament after 22 matches and 73 goals.
South Africa broke the deadlock in the 28th minute when Oarabile Booysen drilled a stunning long‑range strike. Mozambique responded just two minutes later as Martinho Comecar levelled the score.
Mozambique had impressed throughout the tournament, notably delivering a 3–0 semi‑final win over Namibia, and entered the final hoping to lift the trophy before their home crowd.
However, Steven Mendes restored South Africa’s lead in the 58th minute with a decisive penalty, sealing the title.
Mendes’ strike was his sixth goal of the tournament, earning him the Golden Boot. He had also converted twice from the penalty spot in South Africa’s 4–2 semi‑final victory over Zambia.
In added time, Mozambique were reduced to ten men when Milton Macombe was sent off for stamping on Mendes while the South African forward was on the ground.
South Africa finished the competition with a goal‑difference of +10, scoring 13 goals and conceding only three. The Amajita began the tournament with three consecutive clean sheets before advancing past Zambia and Mozambique in the knockout stages.
Mozambique nonetheless enjoyed a memorable run, recovering from a 1–0 group‑stage loss to Namibia to reach the final.
The hosts secured the best runner‑up position on Fair Play points, edging past Angola after both teams finished the group stage with six points and identical records of nine goals scored and two conceded.
Mozambique capitalised on that advantage by avenging their earlier semi‑final loss to Namibia, winning 3–0 with goals from Martinho Comecar, Diego Pelembe and Hissen Socrate.
Mozambique’s Alírio Cuna was named Player of the Tournament, finishing with five goals—one behind Steven Mendes, the Golden Boot winner.
South Africa’s goalkeeper, Takalani Mazhamba, received the Golden Glove award, while Namibia collected the Fair Play Award.
In the earlier third‑place play‑off, Zambia bounced back from their semi‑final disappointment to defeat Namibia 3–0.
Gift Mumbi opened the scoring in the 42nd minute, and Sipho Muntanga doubled the advantage in the 62nd minute.
Muntanga completed his brace in the first minute of stoppage time, sealing the bronze medal for the Junior Chipolopolo.
Zambia had won all three of their group matches before losing 4–2 to South Africa in the semi‑finals, but still concluded the tournament with four victories from five matches.
Namibia had been one of the standout teams in the group stage, winning all three matches without conceding a goal. However, they were unable to sustain that form in the knockout rounds, suffering successive 3–0 defeats to Mozambique and Zambia.
Both South Africa and Mozambique will now shift their focus to the TotalEnergies CAF Under‑20 Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2027, having secured the two qualification spots allocated to the COSAFA region.
Sunday’s Results
Final – ABB Stadium: South Africa 2 (Oarabile Booysen 28′, Steven Mendes 58′ pen) – Mozambique 1 (Martinho Comecar 30′)
Third‑place play‑off – ABB Stadium: Zambia 3 (Gift Mumbi 42′, Sipho Muntanga 62′, 90+1′) – Namibia 0
Tournament Awards
Player of the Tournament: Alírio Cuna (Mozambique)
Golden Boot: Steven Mendes (South Africa) – 6 goals
Golden Glove: Takalani Mazhamba (South Africa)
Fair Play Award: Namibia
Tournament Stats
Matches played: 22
Goals scored: 73
Goals per game: 3.32
Biggest victories: Mozambique 5‑0 Mauritius (Group A, September 22); Angola 5‑0 Lesotho (Group B, September 23)
Most goals in a game: 7 – Mauritius 3‑4 Seychelles (Group A, September 20)
Top Goal Scorers
6 goals – Steven Mendes (South Africa)
5 – Alírio Cuna (Mozambique)
3 – Lorenzo Hoareau (Seychelles), Luís Panda (Angola)
2 – Oarabile Booysen (South Africa), Martinho Comecar (Mozambique), Billy Daka (Zambia), Romano Domingos (Angola), Njabulo Gama (Eswatini), Quentin Lalsing (Mauritius), Jairo Muanha (Angola), Sipho Muntanga (Zambia), Rashid Naobeb (Namibia), Lukas Sakeus (Namibia), Daniel Silubonde (Zambia)
1 – Faizal Abdala (Mozambique), Mateus Ashitenda (Namibia), Naythan Barbe (Seychelles), Misheck Billiat (Malawi), Grant Chibalo (Malawi), Kayula Chinunda (Zambia), John Foloko (Zambia), Lekanyane Kalache (Lesotho), Jonathan Kalimina (Zambia), Clever Kalambo (Malawi), António Kulica (Angola), Khensane Machel (Mozambique), Fanuel Macuácua (Mozambique), Lazola Maku (South Africa), Andiswa Malaza (Eswatini), Manelisi Mazibuko (South Africa), Tebogo Mlangeni (South Africa), Ziyad Moussa (Comoros), Duncan Musialela (Zambia), Gift Mumbi (Zambia), Tumalo Mununga (Zambia), Kent Murandu (Botswana), Domingos Muxito (Angola), Milimo Nalumango (South Africa), Abel Nyirongo (Zambia), Diego Pelembe (Mozambique), Eriano Rajabary (Seychelles), Jean Ravina (Mauritius), Rizan Romao (Mozambique), Hissen Socrate (Mozambique), Kabelo Tuoane (Lesotho), Emile Witbooi (South Africa), Austin Yasini (Malawi)
Own goal – Fayyad Issilamou-Hamza (Comoros)
