COSAFA Beach Soccer Championship

COSAFA Beach Soccer Championship
Organiser(s)COSAFA
Founded2015 (2015)
RegionInternational
Teams8 (as of 2024)
Current champions Morocco (1st title)
Most championships Madagascar
 Morocco
 Mozambique
 Senegal
(1 title each)
2024 COSAFA Beach Soccer Championship

The COSAFA Beach Soccer Championship is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of Southern Africa. The competition is organized by the Council of Southern Africa Football Association.

To date, only two COSAFA members have won the title: Madagascar in the inaugural 2015 edition and Mozambique in 2021. Since then, the two most recent editions were won by guest nations, with Senegal in 2022 and Morocco in 2024, the latter being the current champions, having defeated the 2021 winners 4–3 on penalties after a 4–4 draw.

History

As the Seychelles Football Federation was appointed host of the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations in October 2013, and with the aim of developing the sport in the Southern Africa region, COSAFA established the competition in early 2015. It served as a dress rehearsal for the 2015 CAF Beach Soccer Championship, which Seychelles also hosted, while providing competitive exposure for both the hosts and Madagascar.[1] The inaugural edition featured five COSAFA member associations, joined by guest side Al-Ahli from the United Arab Emirates. Madagascar were crowned champions after defeating Malawi 9–4 in the final, and went on to lift the continental title days later.[2][3]

The tournament then went on hiatus for six years before returning in 2021 in Durban, South Africa, with six teams, five COSAFA members, and East African invited side Tanzania.[4] Mozambique won the title, becoming the second nation to lift the trophy.[5] From that edition, the competition was intended to be held annually and expanded with stronger guest teams to enhance competitiveness. Continental record champions Senegal were invited alongside Egypt for the 2022 edition, with both sides contesting the final.[6] The 2023 edition was rescheduled to 2024, once again in Durban, where the invited side Morocco defeated former champions Mozambique 4–3 on penalties following a 4–4 draw to claim the title.[7] The 2025 edition was initially scheduled for April 2025, before being rescheduled to September of the same year, but was subsequently postponed indefinitely.[8]

In October 2024, the council signed an MoU with Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) to further develop the sport in Southern Africa and create more opportunities in the game.[9]

Results

# Year Host city Final Third place play-off No. of
teams
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1 2015
Details		 Seychelles Roche Caïman
Madagascar		 9–4
Malawi		 United Arab Emirates
Al-Ahli		 7–3
Mauritius		 6
2 2021
Details		 South Africa Durban
Mozambique		 3–1
Tanzania

South Africa		and
Angola
 6
3 2022
Details		 South Africa Durban
Senegal		 5–3
Egypt
Uganda		 8–7 (a.e.t.)
Mozambique		 8
4 2024
Details		 South Africa Durban
Morocco		 4–4 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 p)
Mozambique
Malawi		 5–4
Saudi Arabia		 8

Awards

Year Top goalscorer(s) Goals Best player Best goalkeeper Fair play
Seychelles 2015
South Africa 2021 Mozambique Nélson 6 Mozambique Nélson Mozambique Manuel Domingos not awarded
South Africa 2022 13 Senegal Seyni Ndiaye  Senegal
South Africa 2024 Malawi Isaac Kajam
Mozambique António Namape Jr.		 8 Mozambique António Namape Jr. Morocco Yassir Abada  Malawi

Appearances and performance timeline

The following is a performance timeline of the teams that have appeared in the COSAFA Beach Soccer Championship and how many appearances they each have made.

Legend
Timeline
Year
Team
 2015
Seychelles
(6)		 2021
South Africa
(6)		 2022
South Africa
(8)		 2024
South Africa
(8)		 Apps
COSAFA member nations
 Angola ×SF×GS 2
 Comoros ×5th×× 1
 Madagascar 1st••×× 1
 Malawi 2nd××3rd 2
 Mauritius 4th×GS× 2
 Mozambique ×1st4th2nd 3
 Seychelles 5th6thGSGS 4
 South Africa 6thSFGSGS 4
Guest nations
 Egypt ××2nd× 1
 Morocco ×××1st 1
 Saudi Arabia ×××4th 1
 Senegal ××1st× 1
 Tanzania ×2ndGSGS 3
 Uganda ××3rd× 1

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sharon Uranie; Gilly Jean (8 April 2015). ""It is important for us to win," says Brazilian coach: Seychelles ready to host COSAFA and CAF beach soccer competitions". Victoria, Seychelles: Seychelles News Agency. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  2. ↑ Uranie, Sharon (13 April 2015). "Madagascar wins first Seychelles hosted COSAFA beach soccer tournament". Victoria, Seychelles: Seychelles News Agency. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  3. ↑ "2015 Caf Beach Soccer Championship - Madagascar kings of Africa". Seychelles Nation. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  4. ↑ "COSAFA Beach Soccer Championship returns to football calendar". COSAFA. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "Mozambique are Cosafa Beach Soccer champions". The Namibian. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  6. ↑ "Beach soccer – Le Sénégal vainqueur du Cosafa Cup 2022 : L'invité rafle tout !" (in French). Le Quotidien. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  7. ↑ Erraji, Abdellah (24 March 2024). "Beach Soccer: Morocco Crowned COSAFA Tournament Champion in South Africa". Rabat: Morocco World News. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  8. ↑ Kambuwe, Mabvuto (13 March 2025). "COSAFA Beach Soccer Tourney shifted to September". times.mw. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  9. ↑ "COSAFA and Beach Soccer Worldwide to boost development". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 7 October 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
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