Former Nkwazi and Lusaka Dynamos head coach Chris Kaunda has bounced back to the Zambia junior National team ranks.
Kaunda will lead the Zambia U17 National team at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations 2026 | COSAFA Qualifiers which will be staged in Harare, Zimbabwe from September 11-20.
Kaunda and his young Copper Bullets will depart for Zimbabwe this afternoon ahead of the kick of the tournament on Thursday.
Kaunda was the head coach who led Zambia to their debut CAF Under-17 Africa Cup outing in 2015.
Kafue Celtic’s Ntasililwe Malupande captains the junior Chipolopolo squad assembled for this assignment.
Zambia is in Group B alongside Madagascar, Malawi and South Africa. Hosts Zimbabwe are the seeded team in Group A along with Mozambique, Comoros and Eswatini.
Group C contains last year’s beaten finalists Angola, Botswana, Mauritius and Lesotho.
They will face South Africa in their opening match of the tournament on Friday at 15h00 at the Ngoni Stadium.
Only the top team in each pool and the best second-placed side will advance to the semifinals.
Zambia have reached the final in the last five COSAFA U17 Championships winning three 2019, 2022 and 2024, they were runners up in 2020 and 2021.
The winner of Group B will take on the top side in Group C on September 18 at 12h00 at the Ngoni Stadium, while the winner of Group A meets the best Runner-Up at 15h00 at the same venue.
The Third-Place Play-Off is on September 20 at 11h00, with the final later in the day at 14h00.
We are doomed if we keep changing coaches annually.