Africa-Press – Zambia. The withdrawal of Mauritius from the football competitions at the Region 5 Games Lilongwe 2022 has meant a change in format for the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier and a redraw of the first-round groups.
Mauritius notified COSAFA they would be withdrawing their teams from both the boys’ and girls’ events, though Namibia have taken their place in the latter competition, so there is no change in format.
Namibia simply take over the fixtures of Mauritius in the COSAFA Girls’ Under-17 Championship, which means they take on South Africa in their Group A opener on December 3, before a meeting with hosts Malawi two days later. The top two teams in each pool advance to the semifinals.
That competition runs from December 1-10, with Zambia hoping to retain the title they won in Maseru last year. The TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier had been a nine-team competition made up of three groups, but with no replacement for Mauritius in that tournament, there was a new draw needed.
The eight remaining teams have now been split into two groups of four sides each. Hosts Malawi are top seeds in Group A and have been drawn with Botswana, Namibia and Angola in what will be a fiercely contested pool.
Zambia headline Group B, which also contains old foes South Africa, Mozambique and Seychelles. The top two teams in each pool advance to the semifinals, with the two finalists booking their ticket to the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria next year.
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