Botswana’s ‘Zebras’ have shown themselves to be a highly competitive unit over the last years and were semifinalists in the 2007 and 2015 editions of the Cosafa Castle Cup.
They also qualified for the 2012 African Nations Cup finals, the first time they have appeared at the continental showpiece. The team are coached by Englishman Peter Butler, who is seeking to rebuild the national side after the loss of some stalwarts to retirement in recent seasons.
Botswana’s Cosafa Cup record
Botswana have showed a marked improvement in international competition over the last years, using Cosafa Castle Cup tournaments as the basis of their preparation and progress.
It took almost a decade of competition before the Zebras made a breakthrough, but the side reached the semifinals of the Cosafa Castle Cup in 2006 and repeated the feat the next year.
Their achievement in 2006 came after they beat South Africa on post-match penalties and the next year there was another upset triumph, this time over World Cup finalists Angola.
It was in 2003 that Botswana finally ended their search for the ‘Holy Grail’ when their seven-year run without a win in the Cosafa Castle Cup was broken. They had long been the only country of the original entrants to the tournament never to win a game.
An early goal from Tshepiso Molwantwa in their first round match away against Namibia in Windhoek finally broke the duck.
The side exited the 2013 finals at the group stage despite being unbeaten in their three matches, which included a fine 2-1 success over guest nation Kenya.
Striker Jerome Ramatlhakwane scored four goals in that tournament, which makes him the country’s highest scorer in the Cosafa Castle Cup competition.
The side defeated South Africa on penalties in the 2015 quarterfinals, before losing 2-1 to Mozambique in the Last 4. They went on to finish fourth in the competition after losing by the same scoreline to Madagascar in the bronze-medal match.
Botswana remains one of Africa’s richest and most political stable countries and is also where FIFA have placed its development office for the region.
Overall Cosafa Cup record:
P W D L GF GA
30 6 11 13 20 32
Honours: none
Fifa ranking: 91
CAF ranking: 23
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