The 2026 COSAFA Women's Champions League, officially known as the 2026 Hollywoodbets COSAFA Women's Champions League for sponsorship reasons, was the sixth edition of the annual international women's club football competition organized by COSAFA to decide the region's qualifier for the 2026 CAF Women's Champions League. The tournament was held in Gaborone, Botswana, from 20 to 29 August 2026, making it the country's first hosting of a major COSAFA tournament since the 2011 COSAFA Under-20 Championship.
Gaborone United Ladies were the defending champions, having won last year's final 4–3 on penalties. They were defeated 5–0 in the semifinals by Mamelodi Sundowns who went on to win their third title after defeating ZESCO Ndola 2–1 in the final.
Entrants Eight of the fourteen COSAFA member associations entered teams in the competition, with each participating association nominating one club to represent it based on sporting merit. TeamQualifying method Gaborone United Ladies2026 BH National Women's First Division League champions3rd () Nsingizini Hotspurs2025–26 Eswatini Women's League champions1st Lesotho Defence Force Ladies2025–26 Lesotho Women's Super League champions3rd () Silver Strikers Ladies2025–26 NBM Women's Premiership champions1st Costa do Sol2025 Mozambican Campeonato Nacional de Futebol Feminino champions4th () Mamelodi Sundowns2025 SAFA Women's League champions5th () ZESCO Ndola Girls2025–26 ZPL Women's Super League champions2nd () Herentals Queens2025 Zimbabwe Women Premier Soccer League champions3rd () Associations that did not enter a team:
Venue
All matches will be played in Gaborone, Botswana.
CityVenueCapacityGaboroneGaborone United Stadium (GU)5,000
Match officials Referees
Kealeboga Koitsiwe Seonyatseng Tshephe Mathapelo Morake Élodie Livaharivony Rose Zimba Cacilda Fernando Nonjabulo Ndlela Anna Banda Mercy Mayimbo
Assistant Referees
Kakale Mbiko Leungo Tsogang Fumane Mokhethi Mphatso Mamete Eveline Augustinus Nandipha Menze Beauty Siatontola Dominica Melusi
Video assistant referees (VAR) Abongile Tom Assistant video assistant referees (AVAR) Brighton Chimene
Draw The draw for the group stage was held in Gaborone, Botswana on 4 August 2026 at 11:00 CAT (UTC+2). As the host and defending champions, Gaborone United were automatically seeded in position A1, while Mamelodi Sundowns, the highest-ranked team across the previous three editions, were automatically seeded in position B1. The remaining six teams were divided into two pots based on their rankings: the next two highest-ranked teams were placed in Pot 1, while the remaining four teams were placed in Pot 2. Two additional pots, designated Pot A and Pot B, were used to determine the group positions of teams drawn from Pots 1 and 2.
The draw began by randomly selecting a team from Pot 1, placing them into Group A, followed by another Pot 1 team being assigned to Group B. The same procedure was then repeated with the teams in Pot 2, with one team drawn into Group A and another into Group B, until all teams had been allocated. Pot 1Pot 2 The draw resulted in the following groups: + Group A Team A1 Gaborone United A2 LDF Ladies A3 ZESCO Ndola Girls A4 Herentals Queens + Group B Team B1 Mamelodi Sundowns B2 Nsingizini Hotspurs B3 Costa do Sol B4 Silver Strikers Ladies
Group stage
Tie-breaking criteria for the group stageTeams were 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 were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings: 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 were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; 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. Group A
Group B
Knockout stage In the semi-finals, matches level after 90 minutes were decided by a penalty shoot-out, while extra time (followed by penalties if required) would be used only in the final. Bracket
Semi-finals
Third-place play-off
Final
Awards and statistics
RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Refilwe Tholakele Mamelodi Sundowns72 Lúcia Moçambique Costa do Sol4 Charity Mubanga ZESCO Ndola Girls Eneless Phiri ZESCO Ndola Girls5 Carolyne Mathyola Silver Strikers Ladies3 Lelona Daweti Mamelodi Sundowns Isabella Ludwig Mamelodi Sundowns Milla Milambo ZESCO Ndola Girls9 Grace Kakangula Silver Strikers Ladies2 Karabo Dhlamini Mamelodi Sundowns Wendy Shongwe Mamelodi Sundowns Lucia Gaonwe Nsingizini Hotspurs Maungo Maponga Gaborone United Ladies Yaone Modise Gaborone United Ladies Nonhlanhla Mthandi Mamelodi Sundowns Penelope Mulubwa ZESCO Ndola Girls
Group Stage Best XI The COSAFA Technical Study Group has announced the group stage Best XI as follows: GoalkeepersDefendersMidfieldersForwardsGroup Stage Best XI Dlamini Dhlamini Mochawe Pila Ludwig Khumalo Radiakanyo Moçambique Daweti Mubanga Phiri Coach: Florence Nkatya
Overall Best XI The COSAFA Technical Study Group has announced the tournament's Best XI as follows: GoalkeepersDefendersMidfieldersForwards Best XI Dlamini Pila Dhlamini Chomba Ludwig Khumalo Radiakanyo Bwalya Tholakele Mubanga Phiri Coach: Godfrey Sapula The COSAFA Women's Champions League technical study group selected the following as the best of the tournament. AwardPlayerTeamBest Player Karabo Dhlamini Mamelodi SundownsTop Goal scorer Refilwe TholakeleBest Goalkeeper Andile DlaminiFairplay team ZESCO Ndola Girls
References
Reports