Five COSAFA sides to represent the region at Africa Cup of Nations!
The COSAFA region will have five sides at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations after the qualifiers were completed on Sunday, the most representatives they have had at the continental showpiece in 21 years. The quintet will do battle at the expanded 24-team competition in Egypt from June 21-July 19, with the draw for the
The COSAFA region will have five sides at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations after the qualifiers were completed on Sunday, the most representatives they have had at the continental showpiece in 21 years.
The quintet will do battle at the expanded 24-team competition in Egypt from June 21-July 19, with the draw for the first round pool stages scheduled for Cairo on April 12.
South Africa sealed their place with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Libya in neutral Sfax, Tunisia, with forward Percy Tau grabbing a brace of goals to send Bafana Bafana to their second tournament out of the last three.
Bafana needed just a draw but came away with a win in hostile conditions, with Tau scoring two excellent goals in the second period.
Zimbabwe sealed their place with a 2-0 home win over Congo-Brazzaville as Khama Billiat and Knowledge Musona scored first half goals.
The Warriors also needed just a point to book their ticket but put in an emphatic home showing to seal their place in style.
Namibia lost 4-1 at already ousted Zambia on Saturday, but still managed to advance to the finals as Mozambique were held to a 2-2 draw in Guinea-Bissau.
Both the Brave Warriors and The Mambas finished on eight points in their pool, but Namibia advanced via a better head-to-head record in the qualifying.
Angola sealed their place on Friday night with a 1-0 win at already eliminated Botswana that saw them win their pool and advance along with Mauritania, while fancied Burkina Faso had to settle for third in the pool.
Madagascar had already sealed their qualification some time ago and finished their group campaign with a 2-0 loss at Senegal.
Lesotho narrowly missed out on qualification when they were held to a 0-0 draw in the Cape Verde Islands, when a win would have seen them on the plane to Egypt. Instead they finished third in their pool behind Uganda and Tanzania.
The Comoros Islands needed a win in Cameroon to clinch qualification but lost 3-0 to see their dream come to an end.