Zambia’s young Chipolopolo Boys have qualified for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) after beating Zimbabwe 6-5 on penalties following a 2-2 draw on Thursday in the 2024 Cosafa U-20 Championship semifinal.
Body Mulwanda’s boys kicked off their campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Angola but redeemed themselves by beating Nambia 2-1 in Group B to advance to the semifinal as the best second-placed team across all groups.
The young Copper Bullets against Zimbabwe established their dominance early in the game, with Perkins Mwale opening the score in the 7th minute.
It was one-way traffic after that goal as Zambia dominated the majority of ball possession and created multiple chances. In the 25th minute, following an excellent interchange of passes, David Simukonda extended Zambia’s lead from an Emmanuel Mwanza cross inside the box.
Zimbabwe turns the tables in the second half
Zambia was ahead 2-0 at the break, but they did not carry that momentum into the second stanza, as Zimbabwe turned the tables and piled pressure on them.
Zimbabwe made substitutions, and they seemed to have put their house in order. At the 62nd minute, Prince Ndhlovu beat Levison Banda after pouncing on a cross inside the box to pull one back.
With just eighteen minutes left, Zimbabwe picked up steam and attacked multiple times into Zambia’s half. This paid off quickly when they were given a penalty. Denzel Mapuwa’s penalty was saved by Zambian goalkeeper Mumba, but Ndhlovu scored from a rebound to tie the game.
After eight additional minutes, neither team was able to break the tie, so penalties were used to end the game.
Zimbabwe only managed five penalties, while Zambia scored six, giving the young Chipolopolo a vital win after nearly crushing out of the competition.
Mulwanda’s side will now look to win their 13th Cosafa title on Saturday when they face South Africa in the final.
The Amajita defeated Angola 1-0 in the first semifinal to book their spot in the final.
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