The South African U20 national team successfully defended the TotalEnergies U20 Africa Cup of Nations Cosafa Qualifiers tournament title on Sunday in Maputo, securing a narrow 2-1 victory over the host nation, Mozambique, in the final.
The title game took place at the ABB 1 Stadium, where South Africa previously won the Cosafa title in 2024, before winning again in Windhoek in 2025.
Sunday’s win made it three successive Cosafa titles for Amajita.
An even first half ended with the teams level at 1-1 as they punched and counterpunched in their efforts to gain dominance.
Orabile Booysen netted for South Africa, while Martinho Começar responded with the equaliser for the tournament hosts.
In the second half, Steven Mendes scored the decisive goal for South Africa. That put the cherry on top of the cake for the Kaizer Chiefs‘ forward, who enjoyed a highly impactful tournament and earned the Golden Boot Award for scoring six goals.
His clubmate, Takalani Mazhamba, the Amajita goalkeeper, excelled at the other end of the field, where he surrendered only three goals. He received the Golden Glove Award.
During the tournament, South Africa scored 13 goals, giving them a positive goal difference of 10.
In the final, rising talent Emile Witbooi received the Player of the Match Award. The 18-year-old Cape Town City forward recently extended his contract to the end of 2028 with Roc Nation Sports International, a leading global athlete-management organisation established by Jay-Z.
There was some consolation for the runners-up, Mozambique, with Alírio Cuna being named the Player of the Tournament.
South Africa has rapidly closed the gap on Zambia’s record of 12 Cosafa titles in recent years, and has now won the event 11 times.
The last time Amajita lost in the U20 Cosafa tournament was in 2022 when they fell to a 1-2 defeat against Mozambique in the semifinals.
Zimbabwe, with six titles, has the third-most victories in the regional competition.
Mozambique lifted the title in 2022, while Madagascar was victorious in 2005.
Next on South Africa’s to-do list is defending the U20 Africa Cup of Nations Championship, which they won for the first time in 2025.
The competition takes place in Ghana in 2027, where Mozambique will join South Africa as a reward for their runner-up finish at the Cosafa tournament.
