daniel chigunwe
WITH just two TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations titles to its name, the Southern African region’s continental ambitions will be at an all-time high when the much-anticipated biennial football showpiece takes centre stage in Morocco at the end of the year.
For the first time in the history of the competition, the Southern African region sides that are under the banner of COSAFA will have a record seven representatives competing at Africa’s most prestigious competition in Morocco between 21 December 2025 and 18 January 2026.
Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are the seven qualified nations from the region, which is a first since CAF’s expansion of participating teams from 16 to 24 at the Egypt 2019 finals.
South Africa (1996) and Zambia (2012) are the only two Southern African nations to lift the coveted title since the tournament’s 1957 inception.
The most recent podium finish for a Southern African nation came recently at the Côte d’Ivoire finals when Bafana Bafana edged DR Congo for a third-place finish, while Zambia, who were also in Côte d’Ivoire, bowed out in the group stages.
Chipolopolo hold the record for the most TotalEnergies CAF AFCON appearances, with the Morocco finals set to be their 19th appearance, while South Africa prepares to make it 12 and Angola having the third most qualifications at 10.
Zimbabwe’s Warriors are going for their sixth appearance since making their debut at the 2004 tournament in Tunisia under the guidance of veteran coach Sunday “Mhofu’’ Chidzambwa.
Now under German coach Michael Nees, the first expatriate to lead them at the Nations Cup, the Warriors will head to Morocco, also hoping to break their jinx of failing to go beyond the group stages in their previous appearances.
Apart from Chidzambwa, who presided over two of the Warriors appearances in 2004 and 2019, Charles Mhlauri in 2006, Kalisto Pasuwa in 2017, and Norman Mapeza (2021) are the other coaches to lead the Warriors at the Nations Cup finals.
There is huge optimism that Luton Town midfielder and skipper Marvelous Nakamba and his generation will end that ignominy of falling at the group stage and advance to the knock-out stages.
Nakamba and his troops had a fine qualifying campaign under Nees, which has given the nation hope that they could not only fly the Zimbabwe flag high, but also become the pride of COSAFA.
Morocco will be the fourth North African country to host an AFCON competition, which Zimbabwe would have qualified for.
After Tunisia in 2004, the Warriors also made it to the Nations Cups that were hosted in Egypt in 2006 and 2019.
The other two countries where the Warriors have featured at the AFCON are Gabon and Cameroon.
Botswana and Comoros make a return to the finals and will both be making their second appearances.
The Zebras last appeared in the 2012 finals, while the Coelacanths made an impressive debut in the 2021 edition, where they reached the Round of 16.
With the gap evidently narrowing in African football as seen at the Cote d’Ivoire finals and across CAF’s men’s and women’s inter-club competitions, the stage is set for the Southern African region to make its impact against the best teams on the African continent. Looking at the groups, Zambia and Comoros face an uphill battle against hosts Morocco and West African powerhouse Mali in Group A.
Group B will see a trio of Southern African representation as Angola, South Africa, and Zimbabwe join rec-ord holders, Egypt.
Botswana’s Zebras are drawn against former champions Senegal and DR Congo as well as Benin in Group D, while the Mambas of Mozambique find themselves in a tough Group F where they will be up against reign-ing champions Cote d’Ivoire, five-time winners Cameroon, and Gabon.
Southern African nations TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Group Stages:
Group A: Morocco, Mali, Zambia, Comoros
Group B: Egypt, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe
Group D: Senegal, DR Congo, Benin, Botswana
Group F: Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique. — Cafonline/Sports Reporter
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