# 2024 COSAFA U-20 Women's Championship

The 2024 COSAFA U-20 Women's Championship was the second edition of the COSAFA U-20 Women's Championship, the international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 women's national teams of the member associations of COSAFA. The tournament was hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa from 19 to 24 November 2024.
East African guest nation Tanzania were the inaugural Champions when they lifted a maiden title in 2019 with a 2–1 victory over Zambia in the final. As the Twiga Stars did not return for this edition the tournament saw a COSAFA member claim the title for the first time, with Zambia clinching the championship undefeated and without conceding a goal, while host South Africa finished second.

## Format

Unlike the previous edition, which featured a group stage followed by semifinals and a final, This year's competition followed a round-robin format due to the lower number of participants. Each of the five teams faced the others once, earning three points for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss. The team with the most points was crowned the 2024 champions.

## Participation
### Participating teams

Initially, only 4 out of 14 COSAFA members entered the second edition. However, Zambia was added to the lineup on 11 November 2024, bringing the total to 5 teams. Lesotho made their debut in the competition after missing the inaugural edition in 2019.
| Team | App | Last | Previous best performance |
| Botswana | 2nd | 2019 | Group stage (2019) |
| Lesotho | 1st | — | Debut |
| Mozambique | 2nd | 2019 | Group stage (2019) |
| South Africa | 2nd | 2019 | Third place (2019) |
| Zambia | 2nd | 2019 | Runners-up (2019) |

#### Did not enter

* Angola
* Comoros
* Eswatini
* Madagascar
* Malawi
* Mauritius
* Namibia
* Seychelles
* Zimbabwe

### Draw

The tournament draw took place at COSAFA House in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 13 October 2024 at 17:00 SAST (UTC+2).
| MD | Date | Matches |
| 1 | 19 November 2024 | A2 v A3, A1 v A4 |
| 2 | 20 November 2024 | A5 v A4, A1 v A3 |
| 3 | 22 November 2024 | A5 v A3, A1 v A2 |
| 4 | 23 November 2024 | A3 v A4, A2 v A4 |
| 5 | 24 November 2024 | A4 v A2, A1 v A5 |
| Pos | Team |
| A1 | South Africa |
| A2 | Lesotho |
| A3 | Zambia |
| A4 | Mozambique |
| A5 | Botswana |

### Squads

Each of the five participating national teams was required to register a squad of up to 20 players. with Players born between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2008 were eligible to compete in the tournament.

## Venue

All the matches will be held on the University of Johannesburg's Soweto campus in Johannesburg.
| Johannesburg | Johannesburg |
| UJ Stadium | Johannesburg |
| Capacity: 8,000 | Johannesburg |

## Main tournament

All times are local, SAST (UTC+2). The match schedule was confirmed by COSAFA on 13 November 2024.
* Tie-breaking criteria for separating teams on the table
* Separating teams on the table was determined as follows:
* Points obtained in all group matches;
* Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Number of goals scored in all group matches;
* Fair play points in all tournament matches: Yellow card: −1 points;Direct red card: −2 points;
* Drawing of lots.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | Zambia | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | +19 | 12 | Champions |
| 2 | South Africa (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 9 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Mozambique | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 4 | Third place |
| 4 | Lesotho | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 16 | −12 | 2 | |
| 5 | Botswana | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 13 | −10 | 1 | |

## Goalscorers

There were 42 goals scored in 10 matches, for an average of 4.2 goals per match.
4 goals
* Adrielle Mibe
* Ruth Muwowo
3 goals
* Julia Goncalves
* Saliya Mwanza
2 goals
* Yaone Modise
* Arménia Machava
* Joana Mossueie
* Bwalya Chileshe
* Pumulo Lubasi
* Mary Mbewe
* Jessy Zulu
1 goal
* Serati Modisenyane
* Tebello Lekote
* Limpho Mofana
* Mahali Sepiriti
* Tṧoaeli Tholoana
* Amélia Vasco
* Beatriz Zaqueu
* Gugu Mabitsela
* Nobahle Mdelwa
* Thato Mofolo
* Jaqueline Nambeye
* Edith Phiri
* Zangose Zulu
1 own goal
* Ivy Mankgatau (against Zambia)