ZESCO Ndola Girls will discover their route to a second successive CAF Women’s Champions League COSAFA Qualifiers campaign when the group stage draw is conducted in Gaborone on Tuesday.
The Zambia Women’s Super League champions head into the draw carrying growing expectations after an outstanding debut in last year’s regional competition, where they reached the final before suffering a heartbreaking 4-3 penalty shootout defeat to hosts Gaborone United Ladies following a 1-1 draw.
This year’s qualifiers, scheduled for August 20 to 29 in Botswana, will once again determine Southern Africa’s sole representative at the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League finals.
The draw places ZESCO among the tournament’s second seeds alongside Mozambique’s Costa do Sol after their runners-up finish in 2025. Defending champions and hosts Gaborone United Ladies have already been allocated position A1, while South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns, two-time regional champions and twice African champions, are seeded in position B1.
That means ZESCO will avoid Sundowns and Gaborone United in the group stage, but they will be drawn into either Group A or Group B before learning which two teams from Pot 2 will complete their section. Zimbabwe’s Herentals Queens, Lesotho Defence Force, Eswatini debutants Nsingizini Hotspurs and Malawi’s Silver Strikers make up the final pot.
While awaiting the draw, the Ndola-based side have stepped up preparations in Tanzania, where they are holding a pre-season training camp in Dar es Salaam.
The camp began with recovery and team-bonding activities before coach and players turned their attention to intensive training sessions and high-quality friendly matches against Tanzanian powerhouses JKT Queens and Simba Queens.
The East African tour follows a productive domestic pre-season in which ZESCO hosted a four-team tournament in Mongu, facing Sepo Queens, Hope Queens and a Mongu Select side as part of their preparations for another continental challenge.
There is added determination within the squad after last year’s near miss. Having come within a penalty shootout of reaching Africa’s premier women’s club competition on their first attempt, the “Zegalicious” side return with the experience and belief needed to mount another serious qualification bid.
ZESCO are, however, continuing preparations without several influential players. Captain Avell Chitundu, leading scorer Enelesi Phiri and first-choice goalkeeper Hazel Natasha Nali remain with the Copper Queens at the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Their absence has provided an opportunity for the club’s emerging players to stake their claim during the Tanzanian camp before the full squad reunites ahead of the Botswana tournament.
With continental qualification once again within touching distance, Tuesday’s draw will provide the first indication of the challenge awaiting Zambia’s champions as they seek to go one step further than last season and secure a historic place among Africa’s elite women’s clubs.
