CAF African Schools Championship | COSAFA Qualifier, Namibia 2024 Fact Sheet

When: October 11-13, 2024
Where: Walvis Bay, Namibia
What: CAF African Schools Championship | COSAFA Qualifier, Namibia 2024
How to follow streaming of matches online: FIFA+

The COSAFA qualifier for the CAF African Schools Championship will be played over three days in Walvis Bay, Namibia, where some of the best girls and boys in the Under-15 age-group will be able to showcase their talent and win a place at the continental finals.

WHO IS PLAYING?
Boys’ and Girls’ teams from 9 COSAFA countries are scheduled to compete at the tournament:
Angola
Botswana
Eswatini
Lesotho
Malawi
Namibia
South Africa
Zambia
Zimbabwe

WHAT IS THE FORMAT?
The Boys’ and Girls’ competitions will both have three pools in a first round group stage with three teams in each of the pools. Teams will play each other in a round-robin format. The top nations in each pool advance to the semifinals, along with the best placed runner-up across the three groups. The competition will thereafter revert to a knockout format with the semifinal winners advancing to the final. The winners in the Boys’ and Girls’ categories advance to the continental finals. There will be no play-off matches to determine the other positions.

TIE-BREAKERS
Should two teams finish level on points in the group phase, the following will be used to separate them: The highest number of points obtained in the match between the two concerned teams; the goal difference in all group matches; the highest number of goals scored in the whole group matches; a drawing of lots conducted by the Organizing Committee.

WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC REGULATIONS FOR THIS COMPETITION?
In a change this year, the Boys’ and Girls’ tournament will see 11 players per side compete on a full-size pitch. Previously the Girls’ tournament would see eight players per side compete on a half-size pitch. The matches in both the Boys’ and Girls’ tournaments are 20 minutes per half with a 10-minute halftime break. There are unlimited substitutions, meaning coaches can keep rotating the players they have on the pitch, and all players must feature in the group stages so that everyone gets a chance to play.