The 2024 COSAFA Cup will be the 23rd edition of the annual association football competition organized by COSAFA. It will be held in South Africa for the seventh straight year, this time in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), from 26 June to 7 July 2024.[1] Zambia are the defending champions.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | South Africa |
| City | Gqeberha |
| Dates | 26 June to 7 July 2024 |
| Teams | 12 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 1 host city) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 4 |
| Goals scored | 5 (1.25 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | 5 players tied (1 goal each) |
Participating nations
editTwelve nations will feature in the 2024 edition of the tournament. Two COSAFA members, Madagascar and Mauritius, will not participate.[2] Zimbabwe returned to the tournament for the first time since the 2021 edition following its FIFA ban.[3] Despite originally being announced as a participant, Malawi withdrew from the tournament prior to the group draw out of respect for eight victims of a plane crash earlier that week. One of the victims was former Vice-President of Malawi Saulos Chilima.[4] Kenya accepted COSAFA’s invitation to participate as a guest to replace Malawi.[5]
| National team | FIFA Ranking (4 April 2024)[6] | Best Performance |
|---|---|---|
 Eswatini |
148 | Semi-finals (1999, 2002, 2003, 2021) |
 Comoros |
117 | Group stage |
 Lesotho |
149 | Runners-up (2000, 2023) |
 Botswana |
146 | Runners-up (2016, 2019) |
 Zambia |
86 | Champions (1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2019, 2022, 2023) |
 Mozambique |
110 | Runners-up (2008, 2015) |
 Namibia |
106 | Champions (2015) |
 South Africa |
59 | Champions (2002, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2021) |
 Angola |
94 | Champions (1999, 2001, 2004) |
 Seychelles |
197 | Group stage |
 Zimbabwe |
122 | Champions (2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2018) |
 Kenya (Guest) |
107 | Group stage |
Format
editThe twelve participating teams were drawn into three groups of four teams. As the defending champions, Zambia and the next two highest ranked teams, Angola and South Africa, were in separate groups as the seeded teams. Group winners and the best runner-up will move on to the semi-finals.[2]
Dates
editOriginally scheduled to be held 14 to 23 June 2024, the competition has been postponed, most likely until July 2024.[7] At the time the date change was announced, nations had already begun naming their squads and leagues had altered their season schedules to accommodate the tournament. COSAFA stated that the postponement was necessarily to give the competition maximum exposure, presumably because of a number of high-profile competitions that would have been taking place at the same time.[8][9] On 13 June 2024, COSAFA announced the tournament would be played from 26 June to 7 July 2024.[2]
Draw
editThe draw for the group stage of the 2024 COSAFA Cup was held on 14 June 2024 in Johannesburg.[2][10]
Venues
edit| Gqeberha | Gqeberha | |
|---|---|---|
| Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium | Wolfson Stadium | |
| Capacity: 42,486 | Capacity: 10,000 | |
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|
Group stage
editGroup stage matches will be played from 26 June to 3 July 2024.[10]
Group A
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Mozambique
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 3 | Eswatini
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 | Botswana
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
| South Africa | 1–1 | Mozambique |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Group B
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenya
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Zimbabwe
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 3 | Comoros
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 | |
| 4 | Zambia
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group C
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angola
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Namibia
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 3 | Lesotho
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Seychelles
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Best Runner-up Table
edit| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Zimbabwe
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | A | Mozambique
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 3 | C | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Knockout stage
editSemi-final matches will be played on 5 July 2024 with the third-place and final match played two days later.[10]
Bracket
edit| Semi-Finals | Final | |||||
| 5 July –Gqeberha | ||||||
| TBD | - | |||||
| 7 July – Gqeberha | ||||||
| TBD | - | |||||
| TBD | - | |||||
| 5 July –Gqeberha | ||||||
| TBD | - | |||||
| TBD | - | |||||
| TBD | - | |||||
| Third-Place | ||||||
| 7 Jul - Gqeberha | ||||||
| TBD | - | |||||
| TBD | - | |||||
Semi-finals
edit| Group B Winner | v | Group C Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Group A Winner | v | Best Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
Third-place
edit| SF1 Loser | v | SF2 Loser |
|---|---|---|
Final
edit| SF1 Winner | v | SF2 Winner |
|---|---|---|
Statistics
editGoalscorers
editThere have been 5 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 1.25 goals per match (as of 21:26, 27 June 2024 (UTC)).
1 goal
References
edit- ^ "Warriors drawn in Group C for COSAFA Cup". Namibia Football Association. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Draw for 2024 COSAFA Cup to be held on Friday 14 June". COSAFA. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
- ^ "COSAFA confirms new dates for 2024 COSAFA Cup". soccer24.co.ze. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
- ^ "Flames pull out of COSAFA tourney". Malawi 24. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ Omotto, Joel. "Harambee Stars set for COSAFA Cup after earning late invitation". Pulse Sports. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking - Ranking Table". FIFA.com. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
- ^ Munthali, Burnett. "2024 COSAFA Cup shifted to a later date". Maravia Post. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "Warriors squad for COSAFA Cup named". Soccer 24. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "COSAFA Cup postponed; PSL matches set to resume on 15 June ZIMBABWE SPORTS 2024 COSAFA Cup postponed; PSL matches set to resume on 15 June". Zimsphere. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ a b c "Three tough groups headline 2024 COSAFA Cup". COSAFA. Retrieved 14 June 2024.