Guest side Kenya have picked their second win in the on-going Hollywoodsbets COSAFA Cup 2024 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Austin Odhiambo and Benson Omalla netted second half goals to ensure Kenya’s Emerging Stars defeated Zimbabwe 2-0 in the Group B match.

Kenya kick started their campaign with a 2-0 win against defending champions Zambia, but suffered a similar 2-0 defeat to Comoros in their second match.

While Comoros have qualified for the semi-final stage after beating Zambia 1-0 in a match played on Tuesday and topping the group, the Kenya Emerging Stars will keep their fingers crossed ahead of tomorrow’s Group C matches, so that they can finish as best runners-up.

Mozambique who topped Group A have also qualified for the semi-finals, while Angola and Namibia each have four points ahead of their last Group C matches on Wednesday.

The tournament that has attracted 12 teams and organized by the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) will climax with the final on July 7^th, 2024.

The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) has confirmed that twelve teams will tussle it out in the CECAFA Kagame Cup 2024.

Tanzania will host the tournament which runs July 9-21 in Dar es Salaam at the Azam Complex in Chamazi and KMC Stadium in Kinondoni.

The draw for the tournament will be conducted on July 3rd, 2024 in the Azam TV studio in Dar es Salaam. Azam TV are one of the partners of CECAFA.

“Although we had initially planned to have 16 teams, we have been forced to reduce on the numbers and also change the dates because of some challenges. But we believe this tournament will give our teams in the Zone a good platform to prepare well ahead of the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup,” says the CECAFA Executive Director John Auka Gecheo.

He made it clear that the Zambia Premier League Champions Red Arrows FC will be the only guest side that will play in the tournament.

The twelve teams will be placed in three different groups with four teams each. The top teams from each group and the best runner-up will automatically qualify for the semi-final stage.

Confirmed teams

Coastal Union FC, Singida Black Stars FC (Tanzania)

Al Hilal, Al Wadi FC (Sudan)

Gor Mahia FC (Kenya)

SC Villa (Uganda)

Djibouti Telkom FC (Djibouti)

Dekedaha FC (Somalia)

APR FC (Rwanda)

JKU SC (Zanzibar)

El Merriekh Bentiu (South Sudan)

Red Arrows FC (Zambia)

Kenya Premier League champions Gor Mahia FC will have a new coach lead them at the regional CECAFA Kagame Cup 2024 slated for July 9-21st in Dar es salaam, Tanzania.

Gor Mahia announced the signing of a new coach Leonardo Martins Neiva on Monday. The experienced coach takes over from Johnathan McKinstry who recently joined Gambia as the national head coach.

The Brazilian who will have the first task of leading the team at the CECAFA Kagame Cup is not new to the African setting after handing SC Vipers (Uganda), Young Africans SC (Tanzania), Al-Merriekh (Sudan) and South Africa’s Platinum Stars Youth side. He has also coached teams in Brazil, Mynmar, Jamaica and Thailand.

Neiva will be assisted by our former player and coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno and Michael Nam as they lead Gor Mahia as they attempt to win their fourth CECAFA Kagame Cup trophy.

Top teams from the CECAFA Zone will also use the regional tournament to prepare ahead of the start of the 2024/2025 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and the TotalEnergies Confederation Cup.

The Harambee Stars of Kenya have defeated Zambia 2-0 in their opening Group B match of the on-going Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup 2024.

Austine Odhiambo and Patrick Otieno netted two first half goals at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

After eight minutes Odhiambo gave Kenya the lead from the spot, while Otieno made it 2-0 midway the first half.

After recess, the defending champions came back determined and dominated possession, but failed to break the Kenyan team made up of mostly U-23 players.

Harambee Stars went top of Group B after the second match saw Zimbabwe beat Comoros 1-0.

Kenya, the only guest side in the competition who took up the place of Malawi who withdrew few days to the tournament will now return to action on June 30^th against Comoros, and complete the Group B match against Zimbabwe on July 2^nd.

The best team from each of the three Groups and the best second placed team from any Group will qualify for the semi-final stage. The COSAFA Cup 2024 has attracted 12 teams.