Mozambique finally claimed their maiden COSAFA Under-20 title when they won the 2020 edition in Nelson Mandela Bay, having previously suffered disappointment as beaten finalists in 2008.
Since then, they have reached another final in 2022, but disappointed at home two years later when they lost all three games in Matola.
That is gold, silver and a first-round exit in their last three editions, and they will be desperate to get back on top of the podium.
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They finished at the summit of their pool in 2020, beating Lesotho (1-0) and Zimbabwe (2-0), before a 0-0 draw with South Africa sealed top spot.
It was the same result in the semifinals against powerhouse Zambia, but the Young Mambas triumphed 5-4 on penalties.
It set up a decider against Namibia and Mozambique triumphed 1-0 thanks to a now-famous goal from Augusto, which sealed their first-ever trophy at any level in COSAFA.
They will now hope to do it all again and qualify for the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations next year, which in turn serves as a qualifier for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
In order to do that, they must reach the final and are in a pool that contains Mauritius, Namibia and Seychelles. Only the top side advances automatically to the semifinals, along with the best runner-up across the three pools.
Mozambique lost to hosts South Africa in the final in 2008, but that is now a distant memory for the side after their triumph six years ago.
They narrowly missed out on the semifinals in Botswana in 2011, with the hosts just pipping them on goal difference in a three-team pool that also included Eswatini.
In 2016, they finished their three-team pool with two draws and so lost out to Central African guest nation DR Congo for a place in the knockout stages.
In 2017, they returned home early with a single win and two defeats, though they were in a tough pool with eventual champions South Africa and North African guest nation Egypt.
They were unbeaten in 2018 with a victory over DR Congo and draws with Malawi and Zambia, but their five points were not enough to put them into the next round.
They managed a single win over Seychelles (3-2) in 2019, to go with losses to Eswatini (2-0) and Angola (1-0).
Mozambique reached the quarterfinals of the African Under-20 Championship in 1989 but went out in the group stages in 2021 and 2023.
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MOZAMBIQUE COSAFA UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP FINISHES SINCE 19991999 - Group stages
2000 - Quarterfinals
2001 - Quarterfinals
2002 - Quarterfinals
2003 - Group stages
2004 - Group stages
2005 - Group stages
2006 - Group stages
2007 - Group stages
2008 - Runners-up
2009 - Group stages
2010 - Group stages
2011 - Group stages
2013 - Group stages
2016 - Group stages
2017 - Group stages
2018 - Group stages
2019 - Group stages
2020 - Winners
2022 - Runners-up
2024 - Group stages
