The 2025 COSAFA Cup kicks off on Wednesday at the Free State Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein with host nation South Africa taking on Mozambique.
These two faced off in the opening match last year as well, and they have met six times in total in this competition, with South Africa winning three games to Mozambique's one (D2).
Match preview
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Last year, South Africa and Mozambique were both drawn into Group A of this competition and ended with identical records of one win and two draws in their three matches, but it was Os Mambas who progressed to the knockout rounds with a better goal difference.
Following that competition, though, Bafana Bafana went on a stunning run of 10 matches unbeaten across all competitions before losing to Malawi in African Nations Championship qualifiers at the start of last month.
During that unbeaten run, South Africa secured entry to the upcoming African Cup of Nations by going unbeaten in their qualification group, while also taking pole position in their 2026 World Cup qualifier group.
Notably, the South African Football Association has appointed Kaizer Chiefs Diski Challenge boss Vela Khumalo as the head coach for the upcoming tournament, with Reneilwe Letsholonyane set to serve as his assistant.
The hosts have been excellent on home soil over the last couple of years, now unbeaten in their last 15 matches across all competitions, dating back to the 2023 COSAFA Cup when they were defeated by Zambia in the semi-final.
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Meanwhile, after topping their group in the COSAFA Cup last season, Mozambique went on to claim third place, which was their best performance in the competition since 2015 when they finished as runners-up.
Since then, Os Mambas also secured qualification for the African Cup of Nations, but are second in their World Cup qualification group, three points behind Algeria heading into the final two rounds of matches.
Chiquinho Conde's side lost to Les Fennecs 5-1 in their last match back in March and have a record of five wins, two draws and three defeats in their last 10 games since their semi-final loss in this competition last year.
The visitors arrived in South Africa last week and played a warm-up match against Eswatini on Saturday, which they won 1-0, with Black Bulls FC midfielder Antonia Sumbane scoring the only goal in the match.
Team News
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Given Khumalo's affiliation with AmaKhosi, it is somewhat unsurprising that he has included five Chiefs' players in his squad in Bruce Bvuma, Aden McCarthy, Thabo Cele, Mduduzi Shabalala and Wandile Duba.
Having played in the CAF Champions League final last Sunday, Mamelodi Sundowns players have not been included in Bafana Bafana's COSAFA Cup squad, while the only Orlando Pirates player to make the cut is Boitumelo Radiopane.
For the visitors, Conde opted to leave out UD Songo winger Elias Pelembe for this year's competition, though his biggest call was omitting defender Edmilson Dove, who also plays in South Africa for Kaizer Chiefs.
The Mambas' manager's squad is now made up predominantly of home-based players, though he has summoned the Portugal-based trio of Guebuza, Edson Mucuana and Keyns Abdala.
South Africa possible starting lineup:
Bvuma; McCarthy, Mcaba, Mngonyama, Gcaba; Cele, Mkhize, Dithejane, Barns, Shabalala; Radiopane
Mozambique possible starting lineup:
Joao; Cuboco, Massuanganhe, Guebuza, Valter; Abdala, Francisco, Sumbane, Mucuana, Neves; Manhique
We say: South Africa 2-1 Mozambique
South African football has been on the rise over the last two years, with the team finishing third at the last Africa Cup of Nations, which saw them break into the top 10 nations from the CAF region according to FIFA rankings.
Bafana Bafana are also unbeaten in their last 15 home matches across all competitions, and we feel they will extend that record with a victory in this COSAFA Cup tournament opener.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
