The competition format was unveiled at the official draw ceremony held in October 2024. The tournament will begin with a group stage featuring four groups (two groups of four teams and two groups of three teams). The top team from each group will progress to the semifinals. The winners of the semifinals will advance to the final, while, for the first time since 2020, no third-place match will be held.[3]
A record 14 COSAFA Member Associations have entered this year's edition, marking the first time all members are participating. Of the 14 teams competing, 12 featured in last year's 2023 edition. Mauritius will return to the tournament after missing the previous year, while Seychelles will make their debut in the competition.[4]
Note: All appearance statistics exclude the 2008 edition.
The final group stage draw took place at COSAFA House in Johannesburg, South Africa, on October 8 2024 at 12;00 SAST (UTC+2).[5][6]
For this edition, the top three teams from the previous tournament, along with the host nation, were automatically placed into the following positions. South Africa, the host nation, to position A1; Malawi, the 2023 champions, were assigned to position B1; Zambia, the 2024 runners-up, to position C1; and Mozambique, the 2024 third-place team, to position D1. The remaining teams were seeded into three pots for the draw: Pot 1 included Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola; Pot 2 featured Eswatini, Madagascar, Comoros, and Lesotho; and Pot 3 contained Seychelles and Mauritius, who did not compete in the previous edition.[3]
South Africa
Angola
Botswana
Comoros
Eswatini
Lesotho
Madagascar
Malawi
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Seychelles
Zambia
Zimbabwe
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