COSAFA Women’s Championship: Angola see off Lesotho in opener

Angola kick-started the 2026 COSAFA Women’s Championship group-stage campaign with a 3-1 victory over Lesotho in South Africa on Wednesday afternoon.

Strikers Cristina Mukua and Maria Viera’s first-half goals, then Maria Viera Arminda Lopes’ second-half strike, sent Xavier Chapanga’s girls top of Group A at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.

𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞:

🇦🇴 Angola 2 (Makua 39’ Viera 42’- 0 Lesotho 0 🇱🇸)#CWC2025 #Hollywoodbets #HollywoodbetsCWC2025 pic.twitter.com/pHmmBDuYFo

— COSAFA (@COSAFAMEDIA) February 18, 2026

The Angolans led the pool before the outcome of the day’s second match between South Africa and Malawi at the same venue.

The final result of the early kickoff does not explain the full story. Lesotho appeared in control with their structured play that had kept the Angolans at bay for the better part of the first half.

Actually, Mehalalitoe, as Lesotho are also called, should have gone ahead when a ball was played wide on the right to breach Angola’s defence.

A cut-back from Latseoana Maloro landed gracefully onto the path of forward Makhoto Moalosi. However, the LDF Ladies star fired her effort into the sky.

That wastage came back to haunt Lesotho as the girls in red and black scored a few minutes later.

How Lesotho tried to come back into the 2026 COSAFA Women’s Championship Group A game

Mukua reacted the fastest to get ahead of her marker before firing the ball to the far-post low pocket of the net with her right foot.

The opener came from Viera’s well-weighted cross from the left flank in the 39th minute.

Three minutes later, the provider turned scorer when Viera scored from close range when she found herself one-on-one with goalkeeper Lineo Fanyane following a ball that was floated over Lesotho’s defence.

Angola led 2-0 at the break. When play resumed, Lesotho pushed for a comeback in the game, but they were let down by the sloppy last ball in the final third.

Finally, they reduced the deficit with Moalosi making up for her earlier miss with a fine finish in the 49th minute. Six minutes later, Lesotho’s hopes of a comeback vanished into thin air.

Lopes grabbed Angola’s third goal when she raced to the end on a long-dipping ball that had bounced past the girls in white, green and blue, before finishing into the net.

Mehalalitoe should be hoping for a return to winning ways when they face Malawi at Seshego Stadium in a Saturday noon kickoff, followed by a meeting between Banyana Banyana and Angola later at the same venue.

A recoup of COSAFA Women’s Championship participants

The 11 participating teams were drawn into three groups—two comprising four members and the other three. Banyana Banyana are leading Group A, which comprises the Scorchers of Malawi, Angola and Lesotho. Defending champions Zambia lead Group B, comprising Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Botswana.

Group C consist of Mozambique, Madagascar and Namibia. Mauritius, Comoros, Seychelles and Namibia are conspicuously absent from this year’s competition; hence, the imbalance in the numbers in Group C. Outlining the competition’s playing format via a statement, COSAFA says the overall winner of each group will progress to the semi-final stage alongside the best runner-up.

“Because there are three teams in Group C, results against the bottom sides in Groups A and B will be disregarded for the purposes of that calculation,” reads the statement.

The first three days of competition will be at the venue, before the action moves to the Seshego Stadium from Saturday. The semi-finals, third-place play-off and final will all be staged at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium as scheduled, with the 2010 FIFA World Cup venue a fitting backdrop for the finale. Matches are being broadcast live on FIFA+ and COSAFA’s YouTube channel.

Next Fixtures

South Africa vs Malawi – Group A – 15h00, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium

Thursday, February 19

Eswatini vs Zimbabwe – Group B – 12h00, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium

Zambia vs Botswana – Group B – 15h00, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium