Zambia will this afternoon take on Zimbabwe in the semifinals of the ongoing 2024 COSAFA U-20 Championship in Mozambique.

Angola and Zimbabwe finished top of their respective groups, while South Africa took the top spot in Group C after a 2-0 win over Comoros.

The Junior Chipolopolo, who are defending champions, qualified as the best second-placed side across the three groups following a 2-1 win over Namibia with goals from Emmanuel Mwanza and David Simukonda.

The two winners of the semifinals will book a spot at the 2025 TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) due to take place next year and will be used as the qualifier for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup to be hosted.

‘We are ready’ – Zambia defender declares

Zambian defender Aaron Phiri says the team is ready for the Young Warriors, who are unbeaten in three matches with two wins and one draw.

“Everyone is happy and excited; we are just looking forward to playing and bringing glory to the country by qualifying to the Africa of Nations,” he said. “Everyone is very ready to play; we are excited to play the semi-final.

“Before we even played our game (against Namibia), the coach was telling us to redeem ourselves, and it was up to ourselves to give ourselves this chance again. Because we are defending champions, every team that we play is going to come very hard at us, so we have to be prepared for the game.”

He has, however, cautioned his teammates to expect a tough match against Zimbabwe, who are yet to suffer defeat in the tournament.

“I watched the clip yesterday; they are a very good team, but we just have to work on ourselves and apply ourselves,” he concluded.

Today’s semifinal matches will see South Africa take on Angola at 12:00 CAT, and the second match between Zambia and Zimbabwe will take place at 15:00 CAT.

READ MORE: Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Angola to battle for 2025 U-20 AfCON slots