Zebras have been drawn in Group B together with Comoros Island, Seychelles and Swaziland in the preliminary round. Group A has hosts, Zimbabwe with Tanzania, Mauritius and Lesotho. The winners of each group go through to the quarterfinal to be played on a knockout format. The top six ranked countries from the COSAFA region, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Angola, Namibia and Zambia all got byes to the quarterfinals. In the draw for the quarters, Malawi will battle it out with Mozambique, while Namibia take on Zambia. South Africa will square up against Angola with the two winners of the preliminary groups meeting each other.
The annual competition will run from October 17 to November 1 in Harare and Bulawayo. Madagascar, which is currently experiencing political turmoil, is said to have pulled out of the tournament, and Tanzania has been included as a guest team. South Africa are the defending champions. Tshosane said that the tournament provides a perfect opportunity for his charges to make supporters happy after the failure to make it to the final stage of the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations. He said the training camps as well as the friendly matches they have played will be useful for the COSAFA Cup. He stated that the team has improved and pointed out that the players need to continue working together. The Zebras are currently in camp preparing for a trip to China for a friendly game. They are expected to leave on September 28.
