The COSAFA Under-20 Women's Championship gets under way at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto Campus on Tuesday as five teams vie for the trophy and to gain invaluable international experience against their peers from the region.
The competition was last staged in 2019 so makes a welcome return to the COSAFA calendar and is one of a record five women's competitions that will be held in the region in 2024.
That outlines COSAFA's vision of developing the game in Southern Africa and in providing opportunity to not only players, but also coaches and referees.
The matches will all be played at UJ Soweto Campus with the first two rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday, before a rest day. The action resumes on Friday, with the round-robin tournament completed on Saturday and Sunday.
There are two games per day, the first kicking-off at 12h00 CAT (10h00 GMT) and the second at 15h00 CAT (13h00 GMT), with free entry to the venue on a first come, first served basis.
Matches will be streamed live on FIFA+, and COSAFA's YouTube channel and SuperSport's streaming platform for subscribers.
Lesotho and Zambia, who were defeated finalists five years ago, get the competition under way on Tuesday, before there is a clash between hosts South Africa and Mozambique later in the afternoon.
Botswana are the fifth competing team and enter the competition on Wednesday when they tackle Mozambique in the early kick-off, while South Africa take on Zambia in a potentially titanic clash.
You can view the full fixture list here.
The teams get three points for a win and one for a draw, with the nation who accumulates the most points in their matches declared the winner.
Tanzania were the inaugural champions in 2019 in a competition that was played alongside the COSAFA Women's Championship in Gqeberha.
The East African guest nation defeated Zambia 2-1 in the decider, and the latter will be desperate to make up for that disappointment this time round.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The teams will be hoping to use the competition as preparation for the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup qualifiers that are likely to start next year.
The finals tournament will be in Poland, with a tentative schedule of August 2026.
Outside of World Cup qualifiers there is not much opportunity for women's Under-20 teams to play, with no continental championship, so these games provide invaluable exposure and opportunity to develop as a team.
