COSAFA
Lesotho’s Under-20 side have excelled in the past, qualifying for the African Youth Championship in 2011 and reaching the final of the COSAFA Under-20 competition in 2017.
They are a team that is always packed with potential but will want to make up for poor outings in their last three appearances at the regional competition, when they lost seven of their nine matches and conceded 27 goals in the process.
They will head to the TotalEnergies CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier Mauritius 2026 from September 18-27 believing they can produce a much-improved display.
They have been drawn in a tough Group B, though, alongside South Africa, Angola and Eswatini, a tricky pool that will certainly test them.
The top side in each group advances to the semi-finals, along with the best-placed runner-up, and the two finalists will qualify for the CAF U20 AFCON next year.
Lesotho have certainly proved competitive down the years and will be eager to do so again. They narrowly missed out on the knockout stages at the 2016 COSAFA Under-20 Championships after two wins and a loss in the pool phase left them second in their group.
But they did much better in 2017, topping Group C and beating East African guest nation Uganda in the semi-finals before narrowly going down 2-1 to South Africa in the decider.
They found the going tougher in 2018, when they managed just a point from their three games after losses to Zimbabwe and Botswana, having opened with a draw against Angola.
It was the same story in 2019 as losses to Madagascar (3-0) and South Africa (4-0) came either side of a 2-2 draw with Mauritius.
Lesotho have reached the COSAFA Under-20 final on three occasions, finishing runners-up in 1990, 2005 and 2017. They lost the 2005 decider 1-0 to Madagascar and have also finished third twice, in 1995 and 1999, and fourth in 2003.
They are a nation that has often punched above its weight and also reached the quarter-finals of the African Under-20 Championship in 1989, to go with group-stage exits in 2005 and 2011.
LESOTHO COSAFA UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP FINISHES SINCE 1999
1999 – Third
2000 – Quarterfinals
2001 – Group stages
2002 – Group stages
2003 – Fourth
2004 – Group stages
2005 – Runners-up
2006 – Group stages
2007 – Group stages
2008 – Group stages
2009 – Group stages
2010 – Group stages
2011 – Group stages
2013 – Group stages
2016 – Group stages
2017 – Runners-up
2018 – Group stages
2019 – Group stages
2020 – Group stages
2022 – Group stages
2024 – Group Stages
Summary
- Lesotho’s Under-20 side have excelled in the past, qualifying for the African Youth Championship in 2011 and reaching the final of the COSAFA Under-20 competition in 2017.
- They are a team that is always packed with potential but will want to make up for poor outings in their last three appearances at the regional competition, when they lost seven of their nine matches and conceded 27 goals in the process.
- They narrowly missed out on the knockout stages at the 2016 COSAFA Under-20 Championships after two wins and a loss in the pool phase left them second in their group.
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