Biography

2023 COSAFA Cup

Tournament details
Host country	South Africa
City	Durban
Dates	5–16 July 2023
Teams	12 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Zambia (7th title)
Runners-up	Lesotho
Third place	South Africa
Fourth place	Malawi
Tournament statistics
Matches played	22
Goals scored	48 (2.18 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Tshegofatso Mabasa Albert Kangwanda (3 goals each)
← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 COSAFA Cup was the 22nd edition of the annual association football competition organized by COSAFA. It was held in South Africa for the sixth straight year, this time in Durban, from 5 to 16 July 2023.^[1] Zambia are the defending champions.^[2]

Participating nations

National team	FIFA Ranking (31 March 2023)[3]	Best Performance
Eswatini	144	Semi-finals (1999, 2002, 2003, 2021)
Mauritius	180	Quarter-finals (2001, 2004)
Comoros	131	Group stage
Lesotho	150	Runners-up (2000)
Botswana	152	Runners-up (2016, 2019)
Malawi	127	Runners-up (2002, 2003)
Zambia	86	Champions (1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2019, 2022)
Mozambique	119	Runners-up (2008, 2015)
Namibia	106	Champions (2015)
South Africa	66	Champions (2002, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2021)
Angola	118	Champions (1999, 2001, 2004)
Seychelles	197	Group stage

Format

For the first time, all participants will enter the Group Stage for three groups of four nations. The winners of each group and best runner-up will advance to the knockout stages. The new format guarantees between three and five matches for each team. No plate competitions will be held in this edition of the tournament.^[4]

Venues

Umlazi KwaMashu Durban
	Umlazi	KwaMashu	Durban
	King Zwelithini Stadium	Princess Magogo Stadium	Chatsworth Stadium	Moses Mabhida Stadium
	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 12,000	Capacity: 22,000	Capacity: 85,000

Draw

The draw for the group stage of the 2023 COSAFA Cup was held on 26 May 2023 in Johannesburg.^[1]

Group stage

Group stage matches will be played between 5–12 July 2023.^[4]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Africa	3	2	1	0	5	3	+2	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Botswana	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
3	Eswatini	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3
4	Namibia	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2

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Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Malawi	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Zambia	3	2	0	1	6	4	+2	6	Advance to knockout stage based on ranking
3	Comoros	3	1	0	2	4	4	0	3
4	Seychelles	3	0	0	3	2	9	−7	0

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Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Lesotho	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Angola	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1	4
3	Mozambique	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
4	Mauritius	3	1	0	2	1	3	−2	3

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Best Runner-up Table

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B	Zambia	3	2	0	1	6	4	+2	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	C	Angola	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1	4
3	A	Botswana	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4

Knockout stage

Semi-final matches where played on the 14 July 2023. The final and third-place matches where played two days later at the King Zwelithini Stadium.^[4]

Bracket

	Semi-Finals				Final
	14 Jul – Durban
	Malawi	1(0)
					16 Jul – Durban
	Lesotho (p)	1(3)
					Lesotho	0
	14 Jul – Durban
					Zambia	1
	South Africa	1
	Zambia	2
					Third-Place
					16 Jul - Durban
					Malawi	0(3)
					South Africa(p)	0(5)

Semi-finals

Third-place

Final

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 48 goals scored in 22 matches, for an average of 2.18 goals per match.

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

References