The Copper Queens have advanced to the semifinals of the 2026 COSAFA Women’s Championship after coming from behind to beat eSwatini 2-1 on Tuesday.
Zambia started the match brightly and dominated possession early on. However, eSwatini shockingly took the lead after just 14 minutes through Mokgale, after Agness Musesa’s attempted header failed and left the ball at her feet. She outpaced the defence and struck into the bottom right corner, giving Mwila Mufute no chance to stop it.
The Copper Queens responded to the setback, with Musesa heading home the equaliser in the 21st minute. Coach Charles Haalubono made several changes in the second half, and one of the substitutes, Avell Chitundu, netted the winner in the 52nd minute to seal the team’s spot in the semifinals.
After the match, Haalubono said, ” today we tried our players whom we selected to come and assess, so we struggled. We did have the actual play which we wanted; in short, let me say we didn’t play well but in the second half we picked up when we brought in the usual players, which helped us to settle but it’s good because we are here to assess everyone and give almost equal opportunity to every player who is here so it’s a good result.”
Zambia will face the winner of Group C, which consists of Madagascar, Namibia, and Mozambique. Namibia and Madagascar have three points each, while Mozambique has zero. A win for Madagascar tomorrow against Mozambique will see them advance to the semifinals to face Zambia.
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