2025 COSAFA Cup

COSAFA Cup 2025
Tournament details
Host countrySouth Africa
CityBloemfontein
Dates4 – 15 June
Teams14 (from 2 sub-confederations)
Venue(s)2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Angola (5th title)
Runners-up South Africa
Third place Comoros
Fourth place Madagascar
Tournament statistics
Matches played22
Goals scored44 (2 per match)
Top scorer(s) Depú
(8 goals)
Best player(s) Depú
Best goalkeeper Neblú
Fair play award South Africa
← 2024
2026 →

The 2025 COSAFA Cup, officially known as the 2025 Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup (for sponsorship purposes), was the 24th edition of the COSAFA Cup, the annual international football championship organised by COSAFA for the senior men's national teams of their member associations. South Africa hosted the tournament for the eighth consecutive year, from 4 to 15 June 2025. The tournament involved 14 teams.

Angola were the defending champions, having secured their fourth title in the previous edition.[1]

Participation

All 14 COSAFA member nations are eligible to participate in the competition, with members from other regional confederations also eligible to join by invitation, either to complete the number of participating teams or to replace any that withdrew.

Participating teams

In May 2025, it was announced that 13 of the 14 COSAFA member nations would take part in the tournament,[2] with Morocco from UNAF completing the lineup in place of Seychelles, who did not return for this edition.[3] On 29 May, Morocco withdrew from the competition and were replaced by Tanzania from CECAFA.[4][5] Of the 14 participating nations, Madagascar and Mauritius returned to the competition after missing the previous two and one editions, respectively.[6]

Team Type App Previous best performance WR[a]
 Angola A 20th Champions (1999, 2001, 2004, 2024) 87
 Botswana A 24th Runners-up (2016, 2019) 136
 Comoros A' 8th Fourth place (2024) 105
 Eswatini A 24th Third place (2016, 2021), Semi-finals (1999, 2002, 2003) 155
 Lesotho A 24th Runners-up (2000, 2023) 148
 Madagascar A' 13th Third place (2015) 115
 Malawi A' 23rd Runners-up (2002, 2003) 132
 Mauritius A 19th Quarter-finals (2001, 2004) 178
 Mozambique U23 24th Third place (1997, 2009, 2024) 96
 Namibia A 24th Champions (2015) 108
 South Africa A' 23rd Champions (2002, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2021) 56
 Tanzania A' 4th Third place (2017) 105
 Zambia A' 24th Champions (1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2019, 2022, 2023) 88
 Zimbabwe U23 22nd Champions (2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2018) 116
  1. ^ As of the latest FIFA World Ranking, published on 3 April 2025.[7]
Key
A: First team
A': Local team
U23 Under-23 team (Olympic team)

Squads

Each team may name a preliminary squad of up to 30 players, which must be reduced to a final list of 23 for the tournament.[8]

Venues

The following two stadiums in the province of Free State were selected to host matches during the tournament, with one of them having previously served as a venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[9]

Bloemfontein
Free State Stadium Dr. Petrus Molemela Stadium
Capacity: 42,000 Capacity: 22,000

Final draw

The final tournament draw took place on 21 May 2025, 11:00 SAST (UTC+2).[10] Four teams; the hosts, the defending champions, and the two highest-ranked sides according to the April 2025 FIFA Rankings, were automatically seeded in position 1 of Groups A to D. The remaining ten teams were divided into two pots based on their FIFA Rankings, with four teams placed in Pot 1 and six in Pot 2.

Seeding

Seeding Pot 1
Team Rank
 Mozambique 96
 Comoros 105
 Namibia 108
 Madagascar 115
Seeding Pot 2
Team Rank
 Zimbabwe 116
 Malawi 132
 Botswana 136
 Lesotho 148
 Eswatini 155
 Mauritius 178

Draw

Group A
Pos Team
A1  South Africa
A2  Mozambique
A3  Mauritius
A4  Zimbabwe
Group B
Pos Team
B1  Angola
B2  Namibia
B3  Malawi
B4  Lesotho
Group C
Pos Team
C1  Morocco[a]
C2  Madagascar
C3  Eswatini
Group D
Pos Team
D1  Zambia
D2  Comoros
D3  Botswana
  1. ^ At the time of the draw, Morocco was still listed as a participant, the position was later taken by Tanzania

Match officials

Referees
  • Thabang Ketshabile
  • Arnaud Zafimahatoha
  • Godfrey Nkhakananga
  • Patrice Milazar
  • Celso Alvação
  • Mweshitsama Naftal
  • Hillary Hambaba
  • Brighton Chimene
Assistant Referees
  • Gaselame Molefe
  • Hangula Angula
  • Moustoifa Elmahfoudhe
  • Zamani Simelane
  • Romuald Ibenantenaina
  • Fabien Cauvelet
  • Lameck Phiri
  • Zacarias Balói
  • Elphas Sitole
  • Trywell Nyirenda
Video assistant referees
  • Letticia Viana
  • Mary Njoroge
  • Maria Rivet
  • Shaji Padayachy
  • Akhona Makalima
  • Trywell Nyirenda
  • Claris Simango

Group stage

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss).

If two teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:[8]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches match between the two tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in all group matches;
  3. Goals scored in all group matches;
  4. Drawing of lots.

If more than two teams were tied, the following criteria were applied instead:

  1. Points in matches between the tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in matches between the tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in matches between the tied teams;
  4. If after applying all criteria above, two teams were still tied, the above criteria were again applied to matches played between the two teams in question. If this did not resolve the tie, the next three criteria were applied;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  South Africa (H) 3 1 1 1 2 1 +1 4 Advance to knockout stage
2  Zimbabwe 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
3  Mozambique 3 1 1 1 2 3 −1 4
4  Mauritius 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 3
Source: COSAFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
South Africa 0–1 Mozambique
Report Sumbane 73'
Referee: Arnaud Zafimahatoha (Madagascar)
Mauritius 0–0 Zimbabwe
Report
Referee: Godfrey Nkhakananga (Malawi)
Mozambique 0–0 Mauritius
Report
Referee: Mweshitsama Naftal (Namibia)
South Africa 2–0 Zimbabwe
 Report
Referee: Thabang Ketshabile (Botswana)
Mozambique 1–3 Zimbabwe
  • Calção 38'
 Report
  • Ngwenya 27', 36' (pen.)
  • Makunike 90+5'
Referee: Godfrey Nkhakananga (Malawi)
South Africa 0–0 Mauritius
Report
Referee: Celso Alvação (Mozambique)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Angola 3 2 1 0 6 1 +5 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Namibia 3 1 2 0 4 1 +3 5
3  Lesotho 3 1 0 2 1 7 −6 3
4  Malawi 3 0 1 2 0 2 −2 1
Source: COSAFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Malawi 0–1 Lesotho
Report Ntaitsane 87'
Referee: Patrice Milazar (Mauritius)
Angola 1–1 Namibia
Depú 90' (pen.) Report Kamberipa 90+7'
Referee: Hillary Hambaba (Zambia)
Angola 4–0 Lesotho
  • Vidinho 42'
  • Depú 44', 52', 90+4'
 Report
Namibia 0–0 Malawi
Report
Referee: Hillary Hambaba (Zambia)
Namibia 3–0 Lesotho
 Report
Referee: Thabang Ketshabile (Botswana)
Malawi 0–1 Angola
Report Randy Nteka 48'
Referee: Hillary Hambaba (Zambia)

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Madagascar 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4 Advance to knockout stage
2  Tanzania 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
3  Eswatini 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1
Source: COSAFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Tanzania 0–1 Madagascar
Report Rakotondraibe 29'
Referee: Celso Alvação (Mozambique)
Madagascar 1–1 Eswatini
Rafanomezantsoa 41' Report Magagula 62'
Referee: Godfrey Nkhakananga (Malawi)
Eswatini 1–2 Tanzania
Magagula 29' Report
Referee: Arnaud Zafimahatoha (Madagascar)

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Comoros 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 4 Advance to knockout stage
2  Botswana 2 0 2 0 3 3 0 2
3  Zambia 2 0 1 1 3 4 −1 1
Source: COSAFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Zambia 0–1 Comoros
Report Madi 31'
Referee: Brighton Chimene (Zimbabwe)
Comoros 0–0 Botswana
Report
Referee: Arnaud Zafimahatoha (Madagascar)
Botswana 3–3 Zambia
 Report

Knockout stage

Bracket

 
Semi-FinalsFinal
 
      
 
 13 June–Bloemfontein
 
 
 Angola4
 
 15 June–Bloemfontein
 
 Madagascar1
 
 Angola3
 
 13 June–Bloemfontein
 
 South Africa0
 
 South Africa3
 
 
 Comoros1
 
Third-Place
 
 
 15 June–Bloemfontein
 
 
 Madagascar0
 
 
 Comoros1

Semi-finals

Angola 4–1 Madagascar
 Report
  • Razafimahatana 90+2'
Referee: Celso Alvação (Mozambique)
South Africa 3–1 Comoros
 Report
Referee: Hillary Hambaba (Zambia)

Third-place

Madagascar 0–1 Comoros
Report Ibroihim 77'

Final

Angola 3–0 South Africa
 Report
Referee: Brighton Chimene (Zimbabwe)

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 44 goals scored in 22 matches, for an average of 2 goals per match.

8 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

  • Idris Mohamed (against South Africa)

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:

  • Receiving a red card (red card suspensions could be extended for serious offences)
  • Receiving two yellow cards in two different matches; yellow cards expired after the completion of the group stage unless the second yellow was received in the final group match (yellow card suspensions were not carried forward to any other future international matches)
Players suspended during the tournament—sortable
Player Offence(s) Suspension(s)
Randy Nteka in Group B vs Namibia (matchday 1, 5 June 2025) Group B vs Lesotho (matchday 2; 8 June 2025)
Pascal Colin   in Group A vs Mozambique (matchday 2, 7 June 2025) Group A vs South Africa (matchday 3; 10 June 2025)
Lehlohonolo Matsau in Group B vs Malawi (matchday 1, 5 June 2025)
in Group B vs Angola (matchday 2, 8 June 2025) 		Group B vs Namibia (matchday 3; 10 June 2025)
Naimoudine Assane   in Semi-finals vs South Africa (13 June 2025) Third-place match vs Madagascar (15 June 2025)

References

  1. ^ "Angola begin their COSAFA Cup title defense in Group B." angop.ao (in Portuguese). Luanda. 21 May 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  2. ^ "COSAFA Cup 2025: The perfect tune-up for TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Morocco 2025 contenders". cafonline.com. Confederation of African Football. 3 June 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  3. ^ Chama, Lucky (15 May 2025). "Morocco to Compete in 2025 COSAFA Championship, Draw Date Confirmed". bolanews.co. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  4. ^ Mabuka, Dennis (30 May 2025). "Tanzania replaces Morocco in COSAFA Cup 2025". africatopsports.com. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  5. ^ Kanjere, Peter (29 May 2025). "Morocco withdraws from COSAFA Cup, Tanzania invited". panafricafootball.com. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  6. ^ "The Barea A' will play in the 2025 COSAFA Cup". fmf.mg (in French). Malagasy Football Federation. 13 May 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  7. ^ "FIFA World Ranking". fifa.com. FIFA. 3 April 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Regulations for the HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Cup 2025". cosafa.com. 27 May 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  9. ^ Palesa Manaleng (22 May 2025). "COSAFA Cup to be staged at 2010 FIFA World Cup stadium in Free State". ewn.co.za. Johannesburg: Eyewitness News. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  10. ^ "COSAFA Cup draw set for May 21". zambianfootball.co.zm. 15 May 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
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