Zambia and Mozambique sealed their places in the semi-finals of the Cosafa under-17 Girls’ Championship following the latest round of pool matches played at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek on Tuesday, but there was heartbreak for Namibia who fell one goal short of advancing.
Defending champions Zambia completed a comprehensive 9-0 win over Mauritius in Group B to finish top of the pool with a 100% record.
Nancy Lebang then scored a joint competition record seven goals as Namibia defeated Comoros 10-0 in their final Group A encounter, but it was not quite enough to see them into the next round.
Group B’s Mozambique will take the best runner-up place across the three pools and earn a semi-final place. They finished with three points, a +10 goal difference and 11 goals scored.
Namibia also finished on three points with a +10 goal-difference, but scored 10 goals, one fewer than Mozambique.
Namibia led Comoros 8-0 at halftime thanks to Lebang’s heroics and will rue the fact they could only add two more goals in the second half. Lebang draws level with Uganda’s Juliet Nalukenge (vs Comoros, 2019) and Zambia’s Mercy Chipasula (vs Lesotho 2024) as the only players to have netted seven goals in a single Cosafa under-17 Girls’ Championship fixture.
Although Group C must still be concluded on Wednesday, there is no scenario where a team in that pool can finish second with a better record than Mozambique.
According to the tournament regulations, the best runner-up across the three groups is determined as follows:
(a) The higher number of points the teams concerned obtained in their group matches.
(b) The superior goal-difference of the teams concerned.
(c) The higher number of goals scored by the teams concerned.
(d) A Fair Play points of the teams concerned in terms of yellow or red cards accumulated in the pool phase.
Group C will conclude on Wednesday when Lesotho take on Zimbabwe at 15h00 CAT (13h00 GMT). Victory for the latter will see all three teams in the pool level on three points, leaving the places to be decided on goal-difference or goals scored.
If Lesotho get a draw they will advance to the semifinals and stay on course to repeat last year’s appearance in the decider.
All matches at the 2025 Cosafa under-17 Girls’ Championship are streamed live on FIFA+. – Cosafa.com
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