(Last Updated on June 8, 2022 by zimdaily)
HARARE – The Zimbabwean national team has been booted out from another international tournament due to the FIFA ban on the country. The Warriors, who were recently disqualified from the 2023 Afcon Qualifiers, will not participate in this year’s edition of the COSAFA Cup after the organisers of the regional competition excluded them from the draw.
The draw ceremony is set to happen at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa on Tuesday, June 14. The tournament, which runs from July 5-17, will again feature last year’s beaten finalists Senegal as the guest nation.
COSAFA said: “The regional championship will be contested for the 21st time having made its debut in 1997 and will this year feature 13 of the 14 COSAFA nations. “Only Zimbabwe will be missing due to their ongoing FIFA suspension.”
Draw Procedure:
There will be two phases to the draw. The first sees the eight lowest positioned sides according to the latest FIFA Rankings contesting a first round pool stage. They will be split into two groups with four sides each.
The top teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals, where they join by the six higher ranked sides.
FIRST ROUND POOL STAGE DRAW
Seeded teams
Malawi
Angola
Comoros
Lesotho
Unseeded teams
Botswana
Eswatini
Mauritius
Seychelles
QUARTER FINAL DRAW
Seeded teams
Senegal
South Africa
Zambia
Madagascar
Unseeded teams
Namibia
Mozambique
Winner Group A
Winner Group B