* South Africa first to qualify for the last four after winning their two games played against Malawi Scorchers (2-0) and Angola (2-0)
* Namibia won their first match against Mozambique in the three-team Group C and face Madagascar this afternoon
By Duncan Mlanjira
Defending champions, the Copper Queens of Zambia, drew 0-0 with Zimbabwe yesterday to leave the fight for the semifinals open in Group B while South Africa were first to qualify for the last four after winning their two games played against Malawi Scorchers and Angola — both at 2-0 margins.
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The Copper Queens began their defence of the COSAFA 2026 crown with a dominant display when they ran out 3-0 winners against Botswana Group B while Zimbabwe beat eSwatini 2-0, who drew 1-1 against Botswana yesterday.
Malawi, who earned 3 points after thrashing Lesotho 8-1 on Saturday having been beaten 2-0 by hosts South Africa, now need to win against Angola tomorrow if they could be considered as the best runners-up to qualify for the semis.
Only the group winners and one best runners-up will qualify for the semifinals and having won both their matches — 2-0 each against the Scorchers and Angola — South Africa were first to qualify for the last four.
Angola, who beat Lesotho 3-1 in their opening match, share three points with Malawi and in their final fixture tomorrow, only one can match South Africa’s tally if the hosts lose to Lesotho — but who whoever that may be, Banyana Banyana would be ahead of them on the head-to-head rule.
So both Malawi and Angola will play to win and aim to be the best runners-up across the three groups for a semifinal — a match that is also going to be the highlight of the tournament as it will be a grudge encounter in that the Angolans will be targeting to exact revenge after the Scorchers ousted them from the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAfCON) 2026 qualifiers in October last year.
The Scorchers stand with a very good chance of being considered as best runners-up across all groups as they command a huge goal difference of seven having beaten Lesotho 8-1 — the highest scoreline so far.
From Wednesday last week, the results have been: Lesotho 1-3 Angola; South Africa 2-0 Malawi (Group A); eSwatini 0-2 Zimbabwe; Zambia 3-0 Botswana (Group B); Mozambique 0-2 Namibia (Group C); South Africa 2-0 Angola; Malawi 8-1 Lesotho (Group A); Botswana 1-1 eSwatini; Zambia 0-0 Zimbabwe (Group B).
The remaining games are: Today, February 23: Namibia vs Madagascar (Group C); tomorrow, February 24: Zimbabwe vs Botswana & Zambia vs eSwatini (Group B: @12h00); South Africa vs Lesotho & Angola vs Malawi (Group A @15h00); and Wednesday, February 25: Mozambique vs Madagascar (Group C @15h00).
Scorchers coach Lovemore Fazili can now study Angola’s style of play, who failed to contain Banyana Banyana, whose coach Desiree Ellis had made wholesale changes from her opening match against the Scorchers by retaining only two players her starting line-up, including first-goal scorer Gabriela Salgado.
The hosts took the lead inside the opening 15 minutes and with Angola showing strong resistance in defence as the game progressed, clear chances were limited for long spells — but the record seven-time COSAFA Women’s Championship winners found the winner 11 minutes remaining after changes from the bench injected fresh momentum.
Coach Lovemore Fazili was over the moon with the Lesotho result and praised his players’ execution and intensity adding that the result provides vital momentum ahead of their final group match against Angola.
The only hat-trick of the tournament is from Deborah Henry
The highlight of the game on Saturday was National Bank of Malawi (NBM) Women’s Premiership’s Golden Boot winner, Deborah Henry, who wrote history to herself — scoring her first international goal in her second appearance for the Scorchers, her first international hat-trick and the only hat-trick at the COSAFA Women’s Championship 2026.
She claimed the hat-trick in the first half, the first goal in the 9th minute, the second a minute later and the third in the 45+1.
Her first two goals were assisted by foreign-based Vanessa Chikupila, who missed the match against South Africa and stumped her authority in the game by the the two assists while also adding to the scoresheet when she netted the Scorchers’ 4th goal in the 38th.
“Yes, we missed her in the first game,” Fazili told FAM Media after the game. “Today we managed to score six goals in the first half — she scored and assisted. With her around, we are going to do well and collect maximum points in the last game.”
More highlights in pictures:
