Executive director, Francis Makonese explained this year's competition carries greater significance as the eventual champions will first qualify for the CAF Women's Champions League finals, where Africa's best clubs will compete for the continental title and a place at the 2027 FIFA Women's Champions Cup. "The journey does not end here,” he said during the COSAFA Qualifiers draw at the GICC on Tuesday. “The winner of this qualifier will earn the right to represent the region at the CAF Women's Champions League finals later this year.
History beckons because the African champions will go on to represent the continent at the 2027 FIFA Women's Champions Cup." Beyond the competition itself, Makonese noted COSAFA's legacy programme will include referee development through VAR training, scouting workshops and community engagement initiatives aimed at inspiring more young girls to pursue football. Botswana will host the regional qualifiers for the first time from August 20 to 29, becoming only the third COSAFA member association after South Africa and Malawi to stage the competition. Eight clubs have been drawn into two groups of four, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the semi-finals. The winner of the tournament will qualify for the CAF Women's Champions League finals. On the pitch, all eyes will be on defending champions Gaborone United (GU) Ladies, who return as Botswana's standard bearers after becoming the country's first club to win the regional title last year. The Red Roses have been handed a tricky Group A assignment alongside Zimbabwe's Herentals Queens, Zambia's ZESCO Ndola Girls, and Lesotho Defence Force.
