Fungai Muderere
GOALS win games and there have been many great strikers who have made their name in the Cosafa Cup over the last 26 years.
However, the biggest question is who has been the top marksmen from each of the 14 member nations of Cosafa and who leads the tournament honours overall ahead of the 2023 HOLLYWOODBETS Cosafa Cup that will be played in Durban, South Africa from 5 to 16 July?
Youssouf Ibroihim, Nassim Ali M’Changama (Comoros Islands) 2 goals
Youssouf Ibroiham and Nassim Ali M’Changama are the only players to score twice for Comoros Islands in the Cosafa Cup. Both Ibroiham’s goals came in the first two games of the 2019 competition that was staged in Durban, where Comoros reached the quarter-finals for the first time. M’Changama also scored in that competition and got another in 2022.
Victor Letsoalo (South Africa) 4 goals
Letsoalo leapt to the top of South Africa’s scoring charts with an outstanding display in the 2021 Cosafa Cup, netting a hat-trick on debut against Lesotho and then grabbing a further goal in the semi-finals against Mozambique. His hat-trick was just the second-ever for Bafana Bafana and the first by a player winning their maiden cap.
Kersley Appou (Mauritius) 4 goals
Appou was a lead forward for the Mauritians in the early years of the tournament, playing between 2000 and 2007. Forward Ashley Nazira scored three goals in the 2019 competition and will hope to get another opportunity when the islanders return to the Cosafa Cup in 2023.
Philip Zialor (Seychelles) 4 goals
All Zialor’s goals in the Cosafa Cup came in one game as Seychelles stunned Mauritius with a 7-0 victory, still the largest win in the history of the competition. His four goals in a single game is also a Cosafa Cup record!
Fabrice Akwa, Love Cabungula (Angola) 5 goals
Akwa was a star striker for Angola at the start of the century, who turned out for Portuguese giants Benfica, among other overseas clubs. He scored a hat-trick against Mauritius in 2006 to go with goals in 2000 and 2001. He is joined on five goals by Love, who netted in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 competitions. He netted two each against Namibia and Zimbabwe and got another versus Mauritius. He played for the national team for 13 years, with almost half his 11 goals coming in the Cosafa Cup!
Sarivahy Vombola (Madagascar) 5 goals
All Vombola’s goals came in the 2015 Cosafa Cup, where he was in electric form and took the Malagasy to third place.
Justin Shonga (Zambia) 6 goals
Shonga took over as Zambia’s leading scorer from the great Collin Mbesuma at the 2021 tournament when he netted three goals despite Chipolopolo’s early exit. He also scored three times in the 2017 tournament as Zambia were beaten in the final by Zimbabwe.
Motebang Sera (Lesotho) 6 goals
Sera is another who moved to the top of the scorers’ charts for his country in 2021 when he took his tally to six in the competition. He has now scored in five separate Cosafa Cup tournaments, having first netted in 2016, then 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Deon Hotto (Namibia) 6 goals
Hotto was level with Namibia legend Congo Hindjou going into the 2018 Cosafa Cup, but his strike in the Plate semi-final defeat to South Africa took his career tally to six. Hotto was a star player for Namibia when they lifted the title in 2015, scoring twice in the final win over Mozambique.
Gabadinho Mhango (Malawi) 6 goals
Mhango scored a hat-trick against Angola in the 2016 Cosafa Cup and then added three goals to his tally in 2019 to streak ahead in the leading scorer stakes for The Flames. Behind him on three goals are legend Esau Kanyenda, Khuda Muyaba and Gerald Phiri Jnr. All the latter’s goals came in 2019.
Onkabetse Makgantai (Botswana) 6 goals
Makgantai scored five goals in the 2018 Cosafa Cup to boost his overall tally to six. It was a great form that earned him a move to Baroka FC in South Africa’s Premier Soccer League.
