Senegal VS Eswatini COSAFA Cup LIVE Football Score 16 Jul 2021

Senegal and Eswatini square off in COSAFA Cup semi-final action on Friday, with a place in Sunday’s final on the line.

Senegal qualified at the top of Group B thanks to a 92nd-minute winner in the final game, while their opponents finished in second spot in Group A against the odds thanks to an impressive showing.

Despite coming in as one of the pre-tournament favourites, Senegal suffered a disappointing defeat in their opening game as they took on Namibia. Albert Diene drew them level after Marcel Papama’s early opener, but Elmo Kambimdu would restore Namibia’s lead in the 50th minute to see Senegal lose 2-1.

However, Aliou Cisse’s men would quickly bounce back, firstly defeating Mozambique 1-0 thanks to Pape Massar Djitte’s goal on the hour mark.

They then came from behind to defeat Zimbabwe and move into the top two, as Abdoul Ndoye equalised on the stroke of half time after Qadr Amin’s third-minute penalty, and Mohamed Rassoul Ba hit the winner in the dying minutes.

While the meeting between first-placed Namibia and third-placed Mozambique in the final round of fixtures meant Senegal were almost guaranteed a place in the semi-finals regardless of results, they did seal top spot with a 2-1 win over Malawi. Abu Bakr Diop opened the scoring in the 11th minute before hitting the winner in added time following Khuda Muyaba’s equaliser.

They now head into the semi-finals with hopes of securing the trophy as a guest nation, having won the West-African equivalent on home turf in 2019. Despite coming into a tough group as relative underdogs, Eswatini consistently looked in a strong position to qualify, having defeated Lesotho 3-1 in the opening game.

Felix Badenhorst’s opener was cancelled out by a Tumelo Khutlang equaliser on the stroke of half time, but Khethokuhle Mkhontfo restored the lead before Fanelo Mamba put the game out of sight in the 78th minute. They then fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of group favourites South Africa, with Thabang Sibanyoni netting the only goal of the game on the hour mark against 10 men after Felix Badenhorst was sent off on the stroke of half time.

Dominic Kunene’s men quickly bounced back in the following game, as Sandile Gamedze fired them to a 1-0 win over Zambia, seeing Eswatini break back into the top two.

They went into the final game against Botswana simply needing a point to confirm a top-two finish and book their place in the final four, and they picked that up in a 1-1 draw, with Sabelo Ndzinisa opening the scoring before Thatayaone Kgamanyane equalised for their opponents to see Eswatini finish in second place on seven points, drawing them against Group B’s first-placed nation.