2024 COSAFA Under-20 Women’s Championship in numbers

The second staging of the COSAFA Under-20 Women’s Championship gets under way in Johannesburg from November 19-24, where the best young talent in the region will get the chance to showcase their quality.

Here is a round-up of the numbers ahead of the championship:

0 – The number of COSAFA nations that have reached the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in the past. A number we hope to change soon!

0 – Mozambique will be seeking their first win at the competition this year. They lost all three games in 2019, scoring two goals and conceding nine.

1 – East Africa guest nation Tanzania were the inaugural COSAFA Under-20 Women’s Championship winners when they lifted a maiden title in 2019 with a 2-1 victory over Zambia in the final.

1 – The only African player to win the coveted Golden Ball at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup was Nigerian Asisat Oshoala, who managed the feat in 2014. She has since gone on to become a global star.

1 – Enekia Lunyamila (Tanzania) won then Player of the Tournament prize at the inaugural COSAFA Under-20 Women’s Championship. Zimbabwe’s Cynthia Shonga won the Golden Glove as best goalkeeper.

1 – Botswana won one of their three clashes at the 2019 tournament, beating Eswatini 3-0 but losing to Tanzania (0-2) and Zambia (1-4).

2 – This will be the second COSAFA Under-20 Women’s Championship played, though COSAFA have in the past assisted the AUSC Region 5 Games with hosting their women’s Under-20 competitions.

5 – The COSAFA Under-20 Women’s Championship is one of five female football events on the CODSAFA calendar this year, along with the HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Women’s Championship, CAF Women’s Champions League | COSAFA Qualifier, Girls African Schools Football Championship and upcoming COSAFA Under-17 Women’s Championship.

5 – Zambia’s Maylan Mulenga won the Golden Boot at the inaugural COSAFA Under-20 Women’s Championship when she netted five goals. That was one more than Shakeerah Jacobs (South Africa) and Enekia Lunyamila (Tanzania).

5 – There will be five teams competing in this year’s event, all placed in a single group. Hosts South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique and Zambia are the teams that will take part.

8 – The biggest victory in the short history of the competition is an 8-0 win for Tanzania over Eswatini in the inaugural event in 2019.

8 – A record eight teams from the COSAFA region entered the African qualifiers for the 2024 FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup. They were Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia.

11 – There have been 11 previous editions of the FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup, with Germany, United States and North Korea claiming three each.

52 – There were 52 goals scored in 16 games at the inaugural COSAFA competition in this age group, an average of 3.25 per game.

2026 – The next FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup will be played in 2026 and staged in Poland. A goal for the sides that are competing in Johannesburg this year will be to build towards that competition.