# 2021 COSAFA Cup

The 2021 COSAFA Cup was the 20th edition of the COSAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA). It took place on 6–18 July 2021.
Zambia is the defending champion, having defeated Botswana, 1–0, in the previous edition's final on 8 June 2019.

## Participating nations

| National team | FIFA Ranking (27 May 2021) | Best Performance |
| Eswatini | 154 | Semi-finals (1999, 2002, 2003, 2021) |
| Madagascar (withdrew) | 100 | Third Place (2015) |
| Zimbabwe | 107 | Champions (2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2018) |
| Comoros (withdrew) | 131 | Group stage |
| Lesotho | 146 | Runner-Up (2000) |
| Senegal (Invited guest) | 22 | Debut |
| Botswana | 150 | Runner-Up (2016, 2019) |
| Malawi | 115 | Runner-Up (2002, 2003) |
| Zambia | 87 | Champions (1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2019) |
| Mozambique | 117 | Runner-Up (2008, 2015) |
| Namibia | 111 | Champions (2015) |
| South Africa | 75 | Champions (2002, 2007, 2008, 2016) |

## Venue

Matches will held at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
| Port Elizabeth | Port Elizabeth | Port Elizabeth |
| Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium | Port Elizabeth | Wolfson Stadium |
| Capacity: 42,486 | Port Elizabeth | Capacity: 10,000 |

## Draw

The draw for the 2021 COSAFA Cup was staged in host city Nelson Mandela Bay on Thursday, June 17, 2021.

## Grouping line

| Group A | Group B |
| South Africa  Eswatini  Zambia  Botswana  Lesotho | Senegal  Mozambique  Namibia  Malawi  Zimbabwe |

## Group stages
### Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 9.3)
* Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Goals scored in all group matches;
* Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
* Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
* Drawing of lots.
* All matches will be held at Port Elizabeth
* Time listed are UTC+2:00
Key to colour in group tables :
* Group Winners and Runners-up advance to the Semi-finals

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Africa (H) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 10 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Eswatini | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Zambia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Botswana | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 4 | |
| 5 | Lesotho | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 3 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Senegal | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 9 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Mozambique | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Namibia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | |
| 4 | Malawi | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 2 | |
| 5 | Zimbabwe | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 2 | |

## Knockout stage

* In the knockout stage, extra-time and a penalty shoot-out will be used to decide the winner if necessary.

### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 16 July – Port Elizabeth | 16 July – Port Elizabeth |
| Senegal (p) | 2 (3) |
| Senegal (p) | 2 (3) | 18 July – Port Elizabeth | 18 July – Port Elizabeth |
| Eswatini | 2 (0) | 18 July – Port Elizabeth | 18 July – Port Elizabeth |
| Eswatini | 2 (0) | Senegal | 0 (4) |
| 16 July – Port Elizabeth | 16 July – Port Elizabeth | | Senegal | 0 (4) |
| 16 July – Port Elizabeth | 16 July – Port Elizabeth | South Africa (p) | 0 (5) |
| South Africa | 3 | South Africa (p) | 0 (5) |
| Mozambique | 0 | | |
| Mozambique | 0 | Third place match | Third place match |
| | | 18 July– Port Elizabeth | 18 July– Port Elizabeth |
| | | Eswatini (p) | 1 (4) |
| | | Mozambique | 1 (2) |

## Statistics
### Goalscorers

There were 53 goals scored in 24 matches, for an average of 2.21 goals per match.
4 goals
* Sepana Letsoalo
3 goals
* Thatayaone Kgamanyane
* Tumisang Orebonye
* Elmo Kambindu
* Justin Shonga
2 goals
* Sabelo Ndzinisa
* Sera Motebang
* Khuda Ike Muyaba
* Pepe Massar Dijitte
* Abu Bakry Diop
1 goal
* Felix Badenhorst
* Sandile Gomedze
* Fanelo Mamba
* Sifiso Matse
* Khethukulhe Mkhontfo
* Tumelo Khutlang
* Schumacher Kuwali
* Micium Mhone
* Melque Melito
* Fancisco Simbine
* Victor Jancinto Vitinho
* Marcel Papama
* Mohamed Rassoul Ba
* Albert Diène
* El Hadji Kane
* Abdoul Ndoye
* Moegamat Yusuf Maart
* Kagiso Joseph Malinga
* Sphelele Mkhulise
* Njabulo Ngcobo
* Thabang Sibanyoni
* Qadr Amini
* Patrick Ben Musaka
* Blessing Sarupinda
* Khetkhokuhle Mkhontfo
* Martinho Alberto Thauzene
1 own goal
* Qadr Amini (against Namibia)