Hosts South Africa will tackle Botswana in the quarter-finals of the 2019 COSAFA Cup after the draw was made for the prestigious regional tournament to be staged in Durban from May 25-June 8.
It will be a repeat of the 2016 Cup final and the 2018 Plate decider as the familiar foes clash again for a place in the semi-finals, with South Africa coming out on top in both those matches.
East African guest nation Uganda will have to get past Lesotho to advance to the Last 4, but will be wary of a Likuena side that has finished in third place in the last two installments of the COSAFA Cup.
Defending champions Zimbabwe will meet the winner of the first round Group A, which will be one of Angola, eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), Comoros and Mauritius.
Angola, like Zimbabwe, will be heading to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt shortly after the tournament and that would be a massive quarterfinal line-up were it to materialise.
Comoros, meanwhile, are appearing in their first COSAFA Cup since 2009, a welcome return for the islanders after a decade on the sidelines.
Zambia, always a power in the regional showpiece competition, will clash with the winner of Group B, which includes Mozambique, 2015 winners Namibia, Malawi and Seychelles.
Namibia are another side that are plotting their trip to the Cup of Nations finals, but Mozambique and Malawi in particular will present a mighty challenge.
The four winning quarterfinals advance to the Cup semifinals, while the losing teams will move in to the Plate competition.
2019 COSAFA Cup draw:
Group A
Angola
eSwatini (Swaziland)
Comoros
Mauritius
Group B
Mozambique
Namibia
Malawi
Seychelles
Quarter-finals
Zambia vs Winner Group B
Lesotho vs Uganda
Zimbabwe vs Winner Group A
South Africa vs Botswana
Image:
William Shongwe during the 2019 Cosafa Cup Draw at the SuperSport Studios, Johannesburg on the 02 May 2019 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix