The tournament saw the late withdrawal of Madagascar from the 2021 COSAFA Cup, forcing a change in the competition’s format which had two groups of five teams each.
Madagascar had been unable to secure their travel to Nelson Mandela Bay for the tournament which, following the decision of Comoros Islands not to participate, left the original Group B with only Zambia and Malawi, a COSAFA press release said.
Host South Africa beat Botswana 1-0 and went on to meet the eSwatini side. Namibia suprised by thumping Senegal 2-1 and Lesotho in an equally surprising win over Zambia.
Zimbabwe and Mozambique never managed to light up the scoreboard with a 0-0 result in their match.
This tournament proved to be quite unpredictable this time around. See the COSAFA Cup scoreboard here.
South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in their third game cruised to the semi-final by beating Lesotho 4-0, with a history-making hat-trick from debutant Victor Letsoalo, following an earlier goal from Sphelele Mkhulise.
In the final, the team played to a goalless draw with Senegal, winning the COSAFA Cup in a penalty shootout 5-4 on July 18, 2021.
Victor Letsoalo has won the tournament’s Golden Boot and is the first debutant to score a hat-trick. He scored four goals in all at the tournament.
