MBABANE – Eswatini’s Under-20 squad suffered a rude awakening in their TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, slumping to a 4-0 defeat against Angola yesterday.
The TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Qualifiers match was played at the ABB Stadium in Mozambique. This was the opening fixture of Group B, where Dominic Kunene’s troops are pitted against Angola, Lesotho and defending champions South Africa.
The local lads started the game like a house on fire, nearly breaking the deadlock just two minutes in, but Andiswa Malaza’s well-taken shot narrowly missed the target with goalkeeper Gelson Dala beaten.
This attempt triggered Xavier Manuel Da Costa Chapanga’s side, who took control of the match. They broke the deadlock in the 21st minute through Domingos Muxito, who tapped in past Sanele Sithole after benefiting from a weighted cross by Antonio Sousa.
Sousa then added his name to the scoresheet to double the lead, connecting with a telling cross from the troublesome Filipe Quissequel to slot home past Sithole. At the stroke of half-time, Angola added a third when Quissequel danced past the Eswatini defenders and delivered a searching cross, brilliantly headed home by Jairo Muanha.
By the time Madagascan referee Lominson Todihajaniaina blew his whistle for half-time, Angola were comfortably leading 3-0.
The second half saw Angola continue where they left off, running riot over Eswatini and receiving their reward five minutes after the restart. Sousa provided another assist from the right flank, which was easily tapped into the net by Luis Panda to put the match completely out of Eswatini’s reach.
The local squad will have to redeem themselves when they meet Lesotho in a Kingdom derby on Monday, September 21, 2026, at the ABB Stadium, with the match set to kick off at 18:00.
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