All the HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Cup records
All the records that have been set in the HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Cup down the years ahead of the latest instalment that will be played from June 26-July 7.
MOST TITLES WON
7 – Zambia (1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2019, 2022, 2023) have won the COSAFA Cup on seven occasions. That is one more than Zimbabwe with six (2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2018).
MOST TITLES IN A ROW
2 – Zambia (1997 & 1998, 2022 & 2023), South Africa (2007 & 2008) and Zimbabwe (2017 & 2018) have each won back-to-back titles. Zambia are the only side to do it twice. No country has won the competition three times in a row, can Chipolopolo achieve that this year?
MOST RUNNERS-UP
6 – Zambia have been runners-up on six occasions in their history (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2018), the most of any nation. The next highest is three each for Zimbabwe (1998, 2001, 2013) and Namibia (1997, 1999, 2022).
MOST SEMIFINALS
16 – Zambia have been to the semifinals on 16 occasions (since the competition had a semifinal round in 1999). Zimbabwe have appeared in the next most with 12.
EVERPRESENTS
22 – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia are the only nations to appear in every COSAFA Cup staged.
MOST MATCHES PLAYED
70 – Zambia have featured in the most games over the last 26 years. They have won 36, drawn 22 and lost 12.
MOST WINS
36 – Zambia have managed the most wins with 36, one more than Zimbabwe, whose victories have come from 62 fixtures. Zimbabwe return to the COSAFA Cup having missed out on the last two instalments.
MOST DRAWS
22 – Zambia have been involved in the most draws in the COSAFA Cup.
MOST DEFEATS
27 – Seychelles have suffered the most defeats down the years with 27 in their 34 matches played.
MOST TEAM GOALS SCORED
106 – Zimbabwe lead the way with 106 goals scored in their 62 games to date.
MOST GOALS CONCEDED
80 – Lesotho have conceded the most goals down the years with 80 in their 58 games.
MOST PLAYER GOALS SCORED
9 – Eswatini forward Felix Badenhorst has scored the most goals by an individual in the COSAFA Cup. He netted five goals as Eswatini finished third in 2016 and added another goal in 2017 and then two more in 2019. He moved to the top of the list as greatest scorer in the competition’s history with a goal in a 3-1 win over Lesotho in 2021.
MOST GOALS SCORED BY A PLAYER IN A SINGLE TOURNAMENT
6 – Ovidy Karuru holds the record for the most goals scored in a single COSAFA Cup tournament when he netted six in the 2017 campaign.
BIGGEST WIN
7-0 – Seychelles stunned Mauritius with a 7-0 victory in 2008, still their only ever win in the COSAFA Cup. That remains the biggest win in the competition since 1997.
MOST GOALS IN A GAME
7 – Seychelles’ win over Mauritius in 2008 had seven goals, as did the 4-3 semifinal win for Zimbabwe over Lesotho in 2017 and the victory by the same margin for Zambia over Senegal in the semifinals in 2022. Zimbabwe also defeated Namibia 5-2 in the pool stages in 1998.
MOST TOURNAMENT WINS AS A COACH
4 – Zimbabwe’s Sunday Chidzambwa is the most successful coach in COSAFA Cup history with four titles, won in 2005, 2009, 2017 and 2018. He has never been beaten outright in a COSAFA Cup match, having coached in 19 games.