Zimbabwe will host the second edition of the of the CAF African Schools Football Championship, COSAFA Qualifier next month.

The tournament will be the first CAF event in the country since the lifting of the FIFA ban and is scheduled to take place in Harare between December 14-16.

Ten COSAFA members will join the hosts at the U15 competition for both girls and boys, which will act as a qualifier for the continental finals in 2024.

The participating teams include Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and hosts Zimbabwe.

The draw for both competitions will be made in Harare ahead of the event.

In this year’s edition, teams will be able to select their squad from picking the best players from the national qualifiers, rather than single schools.

ZIFA NC Chairperson Lincoln Mutasa says the country is ready to welcome all the teams to Harare.

“We are delighted to be back competing on the international scene again,” Mutasa told COSAFA media.

“We couldn’t ask for a better way to start the new chapter than to host the CAF African Schools Football Championship | COSAFA Qualifier, Zimbabwe 2023.

“School-going boys and girls are the bedrock of our vision to create competitive generational teams. We are grateful to CAF & COSAFA for giving us the honour to
host the second edition.

“This tournament gives a lot of football stakeholders encouragement that indeed our football is on the right development track. The participants will be better footballers after the competition because previously they had no opportunity to play competitive national team games.”