Zimbabwe hosted a great sporting event - the African Football Confederation (CAF) qualification tournament for school teams in the COSAFA zone. On the soccer fields of Harare, a heated battle raged among young talents from South Africa.
The continental forum brought together the best players under 15 years old, who competed for a ticket to the final stage of the African Schools Championship. The organizers prepared thoroughly for the tournament by implementing training programs for referees and coaches. And these preparations paid off, as the first day of the tournament was already marked by many goals.
Participants and format
The COSAFA zone qualification tournament featured eight national teams of boys and girls under 15 years old. The men's tournament will feature teams from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Eswatini, South Africa, Angola, Zambia and Namibia. The exact same line-up of participants took place in the women's tournament.
The national teams were divided into two groups of 4 teams each. According to the results of the group stage, the winners of the groups will go to the final, where the winner of the ticket to the final stage of the African Schools Championship 2024 will be determined. The second-placed teams in the groups will play for bronze medals in a separate match.
The format of the games will differ in the men's and women's tournaments. The boys played their matches on full-size fields in the 11x11 format, with the duration of matches of 40 minutes (two halves of 20 minutes). The girls played on half of a standard field in an 8x8 format, and their matches will be held according to the same scheme - 2 halves of 20 minutes.
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An unpleasant moment at the championship was the awarding of the Golden Boot. At first, the organizers made a mistake and gave the award to two players at once. Later, the award was taken away from the South African player, and the Zimbabwean player remained the only owner of this prize.
Prospects for further development
Even now, athletes from many African countries are already achieving great success in the European soccer arena. They have millions of fans, and people who download 1xbet or applications from other famous bookmakers actively bet on games with the participation of African soccer stars. All this speaks of the great development of the sport on the continent. However, in order for this development to continue, it is necessary to pay great attention to children's sports.
Such tournaments are designed to increase the interest of young athletes in soccer, discover new names, and help talented youngsters make a name for themselves across Africa.
In the future, such tournaments can contribute to the development of mass children's and youth soccer movement, attracting more and more boys and girls to the big sport. This will help to bring soccer in Africa to a new level and prepare a worthy replacement for the current stars.