Erasmus Shalihaxwe
Namibia has been placed in Group B, alongside Angola, Malawi, and Lesotho, for the 2025 COSAFA Cup.
The draw took place on Wednesday in Mangaung, Free State Province, South Africa.
Namibia will face reigning champions Angola in the group stage.
The two teams met in the 2024 final, where Angola took the title.
Namibia won the tournament in 2015 under Ricardo Mannetti and has reached the final in three editions.
This year’s tournament will introduce the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system from the first match to the final.
COSAFA Executive Director Sue Destombes said match officials have undergone training to ensure fairness throughout the competition.
“Even though we started using VAR in the women’s tournament in 2023, this year is the first time we are going to use VAR from the first game to the last one. We made great investments in the areas of training our referees in 14 countries. Starting on May 30th, we will host a VAR workshop to better prepare all our referees for the final assessment by FIFA. We are going to have FIFA and CAF officials here, plus other referees from the Premier Soccer League as part of the training,” said Destombes.
Namibian head coach Collen Benjamin said he welcomes being in a four-team group, as it allows his squad to play more matches.
“Remember that we are in a transitional period where we have to integrate young, hungry players and get the results at the same time. It’s not an easy task, but we consistently strive to uphold the nation’s pride,” stated Benjamin.
He is expected to announce his final squad on Thursday.
This year’s tournament has also invited Morocco as a guest and the country will compete in Group C with Madagascar and Eswatini.
Group A consists of South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Mauritius, while Group D includes Zambia, Comoros, and Botswana.
