For ZESCO Ndola Girls, the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League COSAFA Qualifier in Botswana was supposed to be the year the unfinished business finally ended.
Instead, it became another chapter of near glory.
The Zambian champions returned to Gaborone carrying the memory of last year’s painful final defeat to Gaborone United. Twelve months later, they returned to the same stage, only to watch the prize slip away again.
ZESCO reached the final unbeaten, scored in every match and produced some of the tournament’s most memorable individual performances. But when the decisive moment arrived, Mamelodi Sundowns had the answer.
A Strong Start in Botswana
The campaign began on August 20 with a statement of intent.
ZESCO demolished Zimbabwe’s Herentals Queens 5-2, with Eneless Phiri and Charity Mubanga scoring twice each, while Penelope Mulubwa added another. Natasha Benza and Catherine Gwangwara replied for Herentals, but the damage had already been done.
Two days later, ZESCO edged Lesotho Defence Force 1-0, with Phiri again providing the difference with a 45th-minute goal.
Then came the real test: hosts Gaborone United.
ZESCO passed it with authority.
Mubanga scored inside the opening minute before Avell Chitundu sealed a 2-0 victory with a late header. Three matches, three wins and nine points. The Ndola Girls had topped Group A and were beginning to look less like hopeful challengers and more like genuine title contenders.
The Road to the Final
But knockout football has a different temperament.
In the semi-final against Malawi’s Silver Strikers on August 27, ZESCO struck twice inside 18 minutes. Mulubwa opened the scoring in the 11th minute from Mubanga’s delivery, before Mubanga turned provider into scorer after a swift counter-attack led by Phiri.
Then came the test of character.
Silver Strikers pulled one back through Carolyne Mathyola in the second half and suddenly ZESCO were defending rather than dictating. The Malawians pushed hard for an equaliser, forcing the Zambians into a tense final stretch.
Jackline Chomba emerged as the defensive hero and was named Player of the Match as ZESCO held on for a 2-1 victory.
Four games, four wins. One final remained.
Another Final, Another Near Miss
And waiting for them were Mamelodi Sundowns, the two-time African champions.
The August 29 final was billed as a battle between Zambian hunger and South African pedigree. Sundowns needed only two minutes to make their presence felt. Refilwe Tholakele opened the scoring almost immediately, punishing ZESCO before the game had properly settled.
Yet ZESCO did not crumble.
They kept fighting and their reward arrived on the stroke of half-time. Mubanga, already one of the tournament’s standout performers, found the equaliser to send the teams into the interval at 1-1.
For a moment, the dream was alive again.
Then came the turning point.
Phiri, whose influence had been central to ZESCO’s journey, was injured and replaced by Fridah Kabwe. Soon afterwards, Sundowns won a penalty following a VAR review. Tholakele stepped forward in the 64th minute and converted, restoring the South Africans’ lead.
It was Tholakele’s second goal of the final and her seventh of the tournament, underlining the decisive impact of Sundowns’ star forward on the biggest stage.
ZESCO threw everything forward.
But Sundowns survived.
The final whistle confirmed a 2-1 defeat and another runners-up finish for the Ndola Girls. The pain was familiar, but the campaign still offered evidence of their growing stature in the region.
ZESCO had won four straight matches before the final, beaten the defending regional champions, negotiated a difficult semi-final and scored in all five of their matches.
Mubanga finished with five goals, the competition’s second-highest tally, while Phiri scored three and Mulubwa twice. Tholakele finished top of the scoring charts with seven goals after scoring both of Sundowns’ goals in the final.
ZESCO were also awarded the Fair Play prize.
Still, the regional crown and a first appearance at the CAF Women’s Champions League finals remained out of reach.
That is the lesson ZESCO must carry home from Botswana.
The heroes are clear: Mubanga’s goals, Phiri’s influence, Mulubwa’s finishing and Chomba’s defensive resilience. But so is the warning. In the biggest moments, margins become everything.
For the second year running, ZESCO Ndola Girls stood one victory away from the continental finals and fell at the final hurdle.
Their campaign was courageous. Their football was compelling.
But their COSAFA crown remains unfinished business.