Zambia Boasts Best Under-20 FIFA World Cup Record Among Southern African Nations

As the countdown to this year’s Region 5 Games in Windhoek, Namibia from July 4-13 begins, FullTime looks back at the best historical records at the tournament among Southern African nations in the Under-20 FIFA World Cup.

Three sides from the COSAFA region – Zambia, Angola and South Africa have gone through the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations to reach the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

This year U20 AFCON champions South Africa will compete and represent the region in Chile.

With four appearances (1999, 2007, 2017, and 2023), the Zambia Under-20 national team, popularly known as the Junior Chipolopolo, holds the region’s highest achievement, a quarterfinal finish at the 2017 edition in South Korea.

Their landmark run in 2017 saw Zambia stun global football powerhouses with fearless performances. Coached by Beston Chambeshi and powered by a golden generation featuring stars like Patson Daka and Fashion Sakala, Zambia topped a tough group that included Portugal, Iran, and Costa Rica. They then knocked out Germany in a dramatic 4-3 extra-time victory in the Round of 16 before narrowly falling 3-2 to Italy in the quarterfinals.

Zambia made its Under-20 World Cup debut in 1999 in Nigeria, registering a memorable 4-3 win over Honduras, though failing to progress beyond the group stage. In 2007 in Canada, they returned to the global stage and claimed a group-stage win over Jordan but again exited early. Their latest appearance came in 2023 in Argentina, where they failed to reach the knockout rounds, managing just one win.

By contrast, Angola has only qualified once, in 2001, where they impressed by topping their group but were eliminated in the Round of 16 by the Netherlands. South Africa, meanwhile, have made four appearances (1997, 2009, 2017, and 2019) but have never gone beyond the Round of 16, which they achieved in 2009.