The 2024 COSAFA Women's Championship, also known as the 2024 Hollywoodbets COSAFA Women's Championship, was the twelfth edition of the COSAFA Women's Championship. It was for sponsorship purposes, and the annual international women's association football championship was contested by the women's national teams of Southern Africa and was organized by COSAFA. The tournament took place in Gqeberha, South Africa from 22 October to 2 November 2024. The opening match was won by Eswatini for the second consecutive year, defeating debutant Seychelles 6–0 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha, achieving their biggest win to date.
Malawi were the defending champions, having claimed their first title in the previous edition. However, their attempt to defend the title fell short in the semi-finals when they were eliminated by the eventual champions Zambia, who went on to clinch their second title after defeating host South Africa in the final 4–3 on penalties following a scoreless draw. Zambian players Ochumba Lubandji and Fridah Mukoma co-jointly won the Golden Boot scoring four goals each throughout the tournament. South Africa's Isabella Ludwig was voted the tournament's best player, winning the Golden Ball, whilst Ludwig's teammate Jessica Williams won the Golden Glove, awarded to the best-performing goalkeeper of the tournament.
Of the fourteen participating teams, Seychelles made their tournament debut, with them and Mauritius scoring their first-ever goals in the competition against South Africa and Madagascar, respectively. Comoros achieved their first win in the tournament after defeating Angola in the group stage. Format The competition format was unveiled at the official draw ceremony held in October 2024. The tournament began with a group stage featuring four groups (two groups of four teams and two groups of three teams). The top team from each group progressed to the semifinals. The winners of the semifinals advanced to the final, while, for the first time since 2020, no third-place match was held.
Teams Participation A record 14 COSAFA Member Associations have entered this year's edition, marking the first time all members were participating. Of the 14 teams competing, 12 featured in last year's 2023 edition. Mauritius returned to the tournament after missing the previous edition, while Seychelles made their debut in the competition.
TeamLastappearancePrevious best performanceFIFA rankingAugust 2024 7th 2023 148 10th 2023 153 5th 2023 188 10th 2023 182 9th 2023 176 5th 2023 190 11th 2023 156 4th 2022 194 10th 2023 171 8th 2023 125 1st 170 11th 2023 50 11th 2023 62 10th 2023 124
Squads
Draw The final group stage draw took place at COSAFA House in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 8 October 2024 at 12:00 SAST (UTC+2).
For this edition, the top three teams from the previous tournament, along with the host nation, were automatically placed into the following positions. South Africa, the host nation, to position A1; Malawi, the 2023 champions, were assigned to position B1; Zambia, the 2023 runners-up, to position C1; and Mozambique, the 2023 third-place team, to position D1. The remaining teams were seeded into three pots for the draw: Pot 1 included Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola; Pot 2 featured Eswatini, Madagascar, Comoros, and Lesotho; and Pot 3 contained Seychelles and Mauritius, who did not compete in the previous edition.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3
Venues Gqeberha has been selected as the host city for this year's tournament, with two venues located within the city itself and one in the nearby iBhayi township, including the renowned Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. GqeberhaIbhayi Nelson Mandela Bay StadiumMadibaz StadiumWolfson Stadium Capacity: 42,486 Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 10,000
Officials COSAFA appointed 11 referees, 11 assistant referees, and 3 video assistant referees for the tournament. VAR was introduced from Matchday Three onward, a shift from the previous edition where it was only implemented starting from the semifinals.
Referees
Tânia Marisa Duarte Seonyatseng Tshephe Nteboheleng Setoko Eness Gumbo Vistoria Shangula Antsino Twanyanyukwa Akhona Makalima Gloria Sambumba Mercy Mayimbo Grace Gimo Thanks Nyahuye
Assistant Referees
Leungo Tsogang Polotso Maapara Bernadettar Kwimbira Mphatso M'matete Roda Mondlane Olivia Amukuu Nandipha Menze Diana Chikotesha Lumbizai Musawa Mercy Zulu Claris Simango
Video assistant referees
Letticia Viana Imtehaz Heeralall Abongile Tom
Group stage All times are local, SAST (UTC+2). The match schedule was announced by COSAFA on 9 October 2024. Tie-breaking criteria for group playThe ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows: Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat); Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question; Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question; Goal difference in all group matches; Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match): Drawing of lots. Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.
Bracket
Semi-finals
Final South Africa and Zambia played the final for the third time in the competition's history, following previous encounters in 2019 and 2022, both of which ended 1–0 (one win for South Africa and one for Zambia). the Host Banyana Banyana enters as the record champion with seven titles, while the Copper Queens holds one. The two teams have met six times in the competition's history, with South Africa winning three matches and Zambia one, while the other two encounters ended in draws, each team winning the shootout once.
Formation: 4–2–3–1GK 18Ng'ambo MusoleLB 2Melody KapimpiCB 19Jackline ChombaCB 5Pauline ZuluRB 8Margaret Belemu (c)DM 12Evarine KatongoDM 13Esther Muchinga LW 23Lungowe NamasikuCM 10Regina Chanda RW 11Fridah Mukoma CF 9Ochumba Lubandji Substitutions:MF 6Esther Mushota MF 17Majory Mulenga Manager:Florence Mwila Formation: 4–3–3GK 1Jessica WilliamsLB 5Yolanda NduliCB 3Sikelelwa MhlangaCB 4Ntando PhahlaRB 18Shannon MacomoLM 6Thalea Smidt (c) CM 19Khutso PilaRM 8Isabella Ludwig LW 2Asanda HadebeCF 13Nobahle MdelwaRW 9Tshogofatso Motlogelwa Substitutions:MF 11Kesha Hendricks Manager:Maude Khumalo Player of the Match: Evarine Katongo (Zambia)
Assistant referees: Claris Simango (Zimbabwe) Leungo Tsogang (Botswana) Fourth official: Eness Gumbo (Malawi) Video assistant referee: Letticia Viana (Eswatini) Assistant video assistant referee: Imtehaz Heeralall (Mauritius)
Award The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament: the Golden Boot (top scorer), Golden Ball (best overall player) and Golden Glove (best goalkeeper).
Golden Boot Fridah Mukoma Ochumba LubandjiGolden Ball Isabella LudwigGolden Glove Jessica WilliamsCOSAFA Fair Play Trophy
Statistics Goal scorers
Discipline A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:
Receiving a red card (red card suspensions may be extended for serious offences) Receiving two yellow cards in two matches; yellow cards expire after the completion of the group stage (yellow card suspensions are not carried forward to any other future international matches) The following suspensions were served during the tournament: Player Offence(s) Suspension Marie Sarah Rasoanandrasana in Group B vs Botswana (matchday 3; 28 October)Suspension served outside tournament Lone Gaofetoge in Group B vs Madagascar (matchday 3; 28 October) Nasrine Hadharay in Group C vs Zambia (matchday 3; 29 October) Moseme Khashane in Group D vs Mozambique (matchday 3; 29 October) Final ranking
Broadcasting rights CountryBroadcasterRef.SABC, SuperSport WorldFIFA+ External links Official website 2024 COSAFA Women's Championship at Soccerway
References