South Africa U20 beat Lesotho U20 3-0 in the Group Stage B of the COSAFA U20 Championship on Friday. The hosts opened their campaign with three wins from three, while their visitors remain winless after three defeats.
There was a nervous moment at the start when a goal was cancelled by VAR after just six minutes, though the reason wasn't clear. Then came the real action. S. Mendes opened the scoring on 45+1, and by then the visitors were already behind. Mendes struck again in the 60th minute to make it two, and T. Mlangeni added a third on 65. Three goals, one half without, and South Africa were in control.
The statistics aren't available for this match, but the scoreboard tells you enough. Three clean goals against a side that hadn't won all tournament suggests the hosts were dominant when it mattered. Lesotho have lost every game so far, and this result keeps them rooted at the bottom of the table.
South Africa's recent form has been mixed — a heavy loss to Colombia U20, a win over the USA, and a comfortable victory against New Caledonia U20. But here, against a regional opponent, they showed what they're capable of. The perfect start puts them top of the group on nine points.
Lesotho's last competitive result came in 2024, when they lost 0-6 to South Africa U20. This time the margin was smaller, but the outcome was the same. They're running out of games in this tournament, and with zero points from three matches, the path to qualification just got longer.
