The HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Cup 2025 will retain last year’s exciting format when it is staged from June 4-15 in Mangaung | Bloemfontein, South Africa, with the group stage draw to be held on Wednesday, May 21 at 11h00 (CAT).
The 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists Morocco will make their debut in the competition in an exciting addition to the field, as they join Angola, Botswana,
Comoros, Lesotho, Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the 14-team regional competition.
The draw will be streamed live on COSAFA’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
The format will see the teams split into four pools. Groups A and B will have four teams each, and Groups C and D will have three.
The competition will be an excellent tune-up for teams before they resume their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns in September, giving them the potential for as many as five fixtures.
The competition will be staged in Mangaung | Bloemfontein, for the first time, with the Free State Stadium, a venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium to host matches.
The 23 previous editions of the COSAFA Cup have seen some great performances and incredible games that have been written into the folklore of Southern African football, but only five nations can claim to have lifted the coveted trophy.
Angola defeated Namibia 5-0 in the 2024 decider to lift the trophy for the first time in 20 years. They will defend their crown.
Zambia top of the list of most titles with seven. That is one more than Zimbabwe, with South Africa (five), Angola (four) and Namibia (one) the only other teams to claim regional glory.
Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana and Lesotho have all been finalists twice but ended up on the losing side on both occasions. Guest nation Senegal are the only other nation to reach the decider but lost to South Africa in 2021.
All matches at this year’s COSAFA Cup will be broadcast live on FIFA+ and there will be coverage across all our various channels and social media platforms:
By COSAFA Media
