Bauleni United Sports Academy (BUSA) Queens secured a place at the Gothia Cup after emerging victorious in a six-team qualifying tournament held in Lusaka and organised by SKF.
BUSA Queens beat Africa on the Ball 2-1 in the semifinals to set up a meeting with Amezam Tamanga Queens who saw off Fearless by a similar scoreline.
BUSA Queens led by Zambia U15 Girls star play maker Hildah Kangwa emerged winners beating Amezam Tamanga Queens 2-0 at the tournament held at R and G Arena.
SKF Zambia, the organizers of the Gothia/Meet the World initiative, has gone beyond football and now become a platform for social development.
“The impact of the Gothia/Meet the World initiative extends far beyond football. The tournament has become a platform for social development, inclusion, and aspiration. It brings together young people from different backgrounds and circumstances, fostering discipline, teamwork, mutual respect, and self-belief. By intentionally encouraging and supporting girls’ teams, the tournament challenges traditional norms and sends a powerful message that girls belong in sport and leadership.” – Satrajit Chakraborty, Managing Director Zambia.
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) was represented by Licensing Manager, Aziph Banda who applauded the initiative saying it can help lay a foundation for Women’s Football.
“This is great and as far as I think these are programs that we support. We believe that if we lay a foundation which is strong with having tournaments like this one, then our future is actually in good hands in terms of women’s football,” he said.
“The impact is positive, and like I said, these are tournaments that we need to be having and maybe let me take this opportunity to request stakeholders, the private sector, to come in and support these kinds of events. Because if they support and we’re having these tournaments annually, then it is a positive for our nation and a positive for female football.”
Swedish Ambassador to Zambia, Johan Hallenborg who was the guest of honor at the event believes Sport is an equalizer and can be a good tool to promote diplomatic relationships.
“To have all these young kids coming together from all over the world, competing, but more than that, also getting to know other parts of the world, getting new friends, learning also how to collaborate and cooperate in the spirit of sports. So I think it ( Gothia Cup) definitely serves its purpose,” he said.
“I think sport is kind of an equalizer, it provides an avenue or a venue where people can meet on on more or less the same terms we come together around a shared joy for football and that tends to promote conversations and dialogue and friendship as well so i think sport has an enormous opportunity to promote diplomacy,” he added.
Widely regarded as the world’s largest international youth football tournament, the Gothia Cup has been staged annually in Gothenburg since 1975, bringing together elite U-15 teams from across the globe.
The 2026 edition is scheduled for July 12–18 and is expected to feature around 1,900 teams representing 80 nations.
