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Cosafa Cup fixtures: Zambia to start title defence against Comoros, South Africa face Botswana
The fixtures for the tournament set for Nelson Mandela Bay are out and will start on July 6 with Eswatini facing Lesotho in opener
Zambia will take their bow at the historic 20th edition of the Cosafa Cup on July 7 when they play Comoros Islands at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium.
According to the fixtures released on Tuesday, Eswatini and Lesotho will kick-off the tournament at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on July 6, before hosts South Africa meet Botswana at the same venue later in the day.
Six-time winners Zimbabwe are in action on July 8 against Mozambique at the same venue, while West African guest nation Senegal will enter the fray as well when they debut against Namibia.
The group stages will be completed on July 14, with the semi-finals, for the three group winners and best-placed runner-up to be played two days later at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The winner of Group A, which includes, South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana and Eswatini, will take on the best runners-up in the semis, with the victors in Groups B (Zambia, Malawi, Comoros, Madagascar) up against the winners of Group C (Senegal, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique).
The losing semi-finalists will be involved in the bronze-medal match on July 18, with the final to be staged later in the day. Both are at the magnificent 2010 Fifa World Cup venue.
Cosafa have also confirmed due to Covid-19 restrictions, all matches will be played without fans and will be behind closed doors, while the limit on the number of people that will be on site at the venues means there will be no media present either.
Cosafa full fixtures;
July 6: Group A: Eswatini vs Lesotho and South Africa vs Botswana.
July 7: Group B: Madagascar vs Malawi and Zambia vs Comoros.
July 8: Group C: Mozambique vs Zimbabwe and Senegal vs Namibia
July 9: Group A: Lesotho vs Botswana and South Africa vs Eswatini.
July 10: Group B: Malawi vs Comoros and Madagascar vs Zambia
July 11: Group C: Zimbabwe vs Namibia and Mozambique vs Senegal
July 13: Group B: Comoros vs Madagascar and Zambia vs Malawi
July 13: Group A: Botswana vs Eswatini and South Africa vs Lesotho
July 14: Group C: Namibia vs Mozambique and Senegal vs Zimbabwe.
July 16: Semi-finals: Winner A vs Best Runner-Up and Winner B vs Winner C
July 17: Third-place play-off loser semi 1 vs Loser Semi 2
July 18: - Final.
