South Africa to defend U20 crown at Region 5 Games in Windhoek
The tournament will run from 4-13 July.
Moreover, they lifted the title in Mozambique last year, building momentum for the season ahead.
In May 2025, they made history by winning the African U20 Championship in Egypt, their first continental title.
The team will kick off their campaign against Zambia on 5 July. They will then face Botswana on 7 July and Eswatini on 9 July in their final group match.
South Africa has won the regional U20 tournament a remarkable nine times, first triumphing in 2000.
They also hosted the event for 11 straight years from 1999 to 2009.
In addition, the country has qualified for the Africa U20 Championship nine times, earning gold in 2023 and silver in 1997. TOURNAMENT HISTORY AND RECENT FORM
In 2016, South Africa reached the COSAFA U20 final on home soil but narrowly lost 2-1 to Zambia.
However, the team bounced back in 2017, winning the title after topping their group with nine points and defeating Egypt 1-0 in the semi-finals, before edging Lesotho 2-1 in the final.
They retained their crown in 2018 by winning their group and edging Angola 1-0 in the semi-final before a penalty shootout win (4-3) over Zimbabwe in the final after a 1-1 draw.
However, their 2019 campaign ended in disappointment with a 3-0 defeat to Zambia in the final.
In 2020, they were eliminated in the group stage despite a commanding 7-0 win over Lesotho.
A third-place finish followed in 2022.
Fortunately, in 2024 they bounced back strongly, defeating Malawi (5-0), Lesotho (6-0), Comoros (2-0), Angola (1-0) in the semi-final, and Zambia (2-0) in the final. 1999: Runners-up
2000: Winners
2001: Fourth place
2002: Third place
2003: Third place
2004: Winners
2005: Fourth place
2006: Winners
2007: Runners-up
2008: Winners
2009: Winners
2010: Group stage exit
2011: Group stage exit
2013: Winners
2016: Runners-up
2017: Winners
2018: Winners
2019: Runners-up
2020: Group stage exit
2022: Third place
2024: Winners Basetsana set their sights on gold as they return to the Region 5 Games, aiming to reclaim their U20 crown in Windhoek. Image: COSAFA Media
South Africa's women's Under-20 team, known as Basetsana, will compete at the Region 5 Games in Windhoek.
The tournament runs from 4–13 July 2025.
They won all three Region 5 Games women's U20 events between 2014 and 2018.
Their earlier dominance was on full display in 2014 (wins over Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia), 2016 (beating Namibia in the final), and 2018 (a 1-0 final win over hosts Botswana). Key Banyana Banyana stars like Linda Motlhalo featured in those early triumphs.
In the 2019 COSAFA U20 Women's Championship, they finished third. Where they topped their group with wins over Zimbabwe (3-0), Namibia (1-0), and Mozambique (3-1). Nevertheless, they lost 2-0 to eventual champions Tanzania in the semi-finals. They edged Zimbabwe 4-3 on penalties to secure third place.
Furthermore in the 2024 edition, they claimed silver. South Africa beat Mozambique (4-0), Lesotho (3-0), and Botswana (3-0). However they lost 3-0 to Zambia in a decisive round-robin match.
Despite their consistent efforts over the years, South Africa's women's U20 side have still not managed to qualify for the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup. They have fallen short at the final hurdle on five occasions.
The Region 5 Games will help prepare the team for their next challenge a CAF U20 Women's World Cup qualifier against Eswatini in September 2025.
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