The 2020 COSAFA U-20 Cup was the 27th edition of the COSAFA U-20 Challenge Cup, an international youth football tournament open to national associations of the COSAFA region. It took place between 3 December and 13 December in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa.[1] Initially planned to be hosted by Mauritius, the competition was later shifted to South Africa after Mauritius withdrew as hosts due to the COVID-19 regulations. The matches were played at Port Elizabeth (Wolfson Stadium and Gelvandale Stadium).
The tournament was also the first qualifying round for the U-20 World Cup in Indonesia in 2021 as the finalists were qualified for the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, played in Mauritania where the semi-finalists will see themselves qualify for the World Cup.[2][3]
The draw was made in Nelson Mandela Bay on 2 November. Last year's top nations were seeded into one group each and the rest of the teams were placed in 2 pots depending on last year's performance. From the first pot, teams were drawn and slotted consecutively into groups A, B, and C. The last team from pot 1 was then placed among the pot 2 teams to make them 5. Now the teams from the second pot were drawn and slotted consecutively into groups A, B, and C resulting that group C ended up with one less team.[5]
^"Southern Africa: South Africa Begin Preps for Cosafa Men's Under-20 Championship". allAfrica. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
^"COSAFA Men's Under-20 Champs starts journey to World Cup". Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
^"Draw looms for COSAFA Men's Under-17 and Under-20 zonal qualifiers". Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
^"The 2020 COSAFA Men's Under-20 Championships in Numbers". Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
^"Men's U17 and U20 teams to learn their COSAFA Championships fate on Monday". Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
^"COSAFA Men's U17 and U20 fixtures provide eye-catching entertainment". Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
^"Cosafa U20, U17 Draws Unveiled". Zambia Reports. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.