COSAFA Women’s Championship kicks off: All you need to know

Southern Africa’s biggest senior women’s tournament gets underway in South Africa on Wednesday, in what some teams consider as a dress rehearsal for the forthcoming Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) finals.

Banyana Banyana get the COSAFA Women’s Championship in motion against Malawi at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane at 3pm noon Southern African Time/ 1pm GMT. In an early kick-off, Lesotho will square up against Angola at the same venue at noon or 10am GMT.

IT’S FINALLY HERE-The COSAFA Women’s Championship kicks off at 12h00 🔥🏆
Kick starting the tournament, Lesotho 🇱🇸 takes on Angola 🇦🇴

We are looking forward to seeing you at the 📍Old Peter Mokaba Stadium. #CWC2025 #Hollywoodbets #HollywoodbetsCWC2025 pic.twitter.com/qs99zTmD1v

— COSAFA (@COSAFAMEDIA) February 18, 2026

Speaking to COSAFA media ahead of the match against the Scorchers of Malawi, the hosts’ coach Desiree Ellis described the annual regional tournament as very critical to her team’s preparedness for the WAFCON finals scheduled for Morocco from 17 March to April 3.

COSAFA Women’s Championship in context of WAFCON

“For us the bigger picture is WAFCON, so the next few games will be key. Preparations will be key in the next couple of games. COSAFA has always been fantastic in helping us prepare for big tournaments.

We are grateful to COSAFA for giving us the neccessary support. We want to get as more games as possible to push up our match-fitness and care four our load,” Desiree told COSAFA media.

South Africa winger Gabriela Salgado could not agree more with her coach in highlighting the importance of the championship in the context of the WAFCON bigger picture.

“We haven’t had much preparations so COSAFA is very important for us to prepare for the WAFCON finals. Each tournament is important, so we will not take it lightly. We will give it our best. Malawi is a strong and physical team, and so are we. We are looking to give our best,” she said.

Malawi coach Lovemore Fazili said he was looking forward to a winning start to the tournament as his Scorchers use the tournament to fine-tune for the WAFCON finals.

He said: “The game [against South Africa] is very important because it is our first match of the tournament and secondly, we are playing against South Africa, who have also qualified for WAFCON.”

What is playing format of COSAFA Women’s Championship?

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 and 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 with the best runner.

“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 thew 2010 FIFA World Cup venue a fitting backdrop for the finale.

Matches will be broadcast live on FIFA+ and COSAFA’s YouTube channel.

COSAFA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP: FULL FIXTURES

All times are CAT (GMT+2)

Wednesday, February 18

Lesotho vs Angola – Group A – 12h00, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium

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

Friday, February 20

Mozambique vs Namibia – Group C – 15h00, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium

Saturday, February 21

Malawi vs Lesotho – Group A – 12h00, Seshego Stadium

South Africa vs Angola – Group A – 15h00, Seshego Stadium

Sunday, February 22

Botswana vs Eswatini – Group B – 12h00, Seshego Stadium

Zambia vs Zimbabwe – Group B – 15h00, Seshego Stadium

Monday, February 23

Namibia vs Madagascar – Group C – 15h00, Seshego Stadium

Tuesday, February 24

Zimbabwe vs Botswana – Group B – 12h00, Seshego Stadium

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

South Africa vs Lesotho – Group A – 15h00, Seshego Stadium

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

Wednesday, February 25

Mozambique vs Madagascar – Group C – 15h00, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium

Friday, February 27

Semi-finals – Winner Group B vs Winner Group C – 12h00, New Peter Mokaba Stadium

Semi-finals – Winner Group A vs Best Runner-up – 15h00, New Peter Mokaba Stadium

Sunday, March 1

Third-place playoff – 12h00, New Peter Mokaba Stadium

Final – 15h00, New Peter Mokaba Stadium