Zimbabwe, Angola, South Africa, and Zambia have qualified for the semifinals of the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) | COSAFA Qualifier.

Only the top team in each group and the best-placed runner-up made it to the semifinals. The two finalists in the competition will earn automatic qualification for next year’s U-20 AfCON.

Zimbabwe finished first in Group A with seven points, while Angola topped Group B with six points. In Group C, South Africa advanced with nine points.

Following a 2-1 win over Namibia, Zambia finished second in Group B with three points, but their goal differential was superior to other second-placed teams in other groups, so they advanced as the best runner-up.

This implies that Lesotho, Malawi, Comoros, and Botswana, who were in contention for the best second-place finish, were eliminated.

How did Zambia qualify after just one win ?

Before Tuesday’s action, Angola and Zimbabwe had already been declared the winners of their respective groups. South Africa had won Group C after defeating Comoros 2-0.

To level the playing field with the three-team Group B, where Zambia finished second with three points and a -1 goal difference, the results of the teams that finished bottom in Groups A and C were discarded in the calculation for the best runner-up across all the pools.

Botswana was the second-place team in Group A, but they finished behind Zambia. This was because only their two draws against Zimbabwe and Eswatini were taken into account.

Malawi finished third in Group C with a goal difference of -4, trailing Zambia.

The semifinal line-up is now set; Angola will face South Africa and Zimbabwe will clash with rival Zambia on Thursday.

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