The COSAFA Under-20 tournament is the zonal preliminary competition for the AFCON Under-20 that will be held in Egypt next year, from February 18 to 12 March 2023.
According to the schedule released by the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA), the Under-20 championship will run from October 7-16, a day later than originally planned.
Zambia who are the record winners of the COSAFA men’s under-20 tournament after winning it 11 times, will kick off this year’s edition with a fixture against Mauritius in a Group A game slated for October 7.
Hosts, Eswatini, are set to open their campaign with a match against Botswana in also in Group A at the Somhlolo Stadium.
Group B and Group C encounters will get underway on October 8, with four matches expected to be played.
In Group B, Angola will take on Lesotho at the Mavuso Stadium, while defending champions Mozambique will play Seychelles at the same venue.
Meanwhile, 8-times winners South Africa will face Malawi in Group C with Namibia paired against Comoros in their group opener. The competition will continue in a round-robin format with the last group games to be played on October 12.
After the conclusion of the group stage, the winner of Group B will take on the top team in Group C, while the winner of Group A plays the best-placed runner-up from the three pools. The semifinals will be played on October 14. while the final and third-place play-off will both be played on October 16 at the Somhlolo Stadium.
The two finalists in Eswatini will qualify for the Egypt 2023 U-20 AFCON which will also serve as a qualifier for the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup to be hosted in Indonesia from 20th May to 11th June.
