{"id":5865,"date":"2026-05-14T11:28:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lefa.co.ls\/?p=5865"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:28:16","slug":"mafoso-names-new-look-45-man-provisional-squad-for-cosafa-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefa.co.ls\/?p=5865","title":{"rendered":"Mafoso Names New-Look 45-Man Provisional Squad for COSAFA Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>MASERU \u2013 Likuena head coach Bob Mafoso has named a 45-man provisional squad for the 2026 COSAFA Cup, with a strong focus on uncapped and young talent from the Vodacom Premier League.<\/h2>\n<p>The squad reflects Mafoso\u2019s intent to broaden the player pool and test emerging players ahead of upcoming international assignments. Only two foreign-based players made the cut: 23-year-old midfielder Lebohang Lesako of South Africa\u2019s Orbit College and Lehlohonolo Fothoane of Botswana\u2019s Township Rollers. Lesako has earned three caps for Lesotho.<\/p>\n<p>At the conclusion of the 2025\/2026 season, the group will be trimmed to 30 players who will report for camp.<\/p>\n<p>Mafoso began his tenure with Likuena by guiding the team past Seychelles to secure a place in the Group Stage of the CAF TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Attention now turns to the next phase, with the Confederation of African Football [CAF] confirming that the draw for the AFCON 2027 Qualifiers will take place on 19 May 2026. A total of 48 teams are expected to enter, vying for a place at the tournament in East Africa.<\/p>\n<p>According to CAF, the teams will be drawn into 12 groups of four. Only the top two sides from each group will secure qualification to the finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MASERU \u2013 Likuena head coach Bob Mafoso has named a 45-man provisional squad for the 2026 COSAFA Cup, with a strong focus on uncapped and young talent from the Vodacom Premier League. The squad reflects Mafoso\u2019s intent to broaden the player pool and test emerging players ahead of upcoming international assignments. Only two foreign-based players&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mafoso Names New-Look 45-Man Provisional Squad for COSAFA Cup - Lesotho Football Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lefa.co.ls\/?p=5865\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mafoso Names New-Look 45-Man Provisional Squad for COSAFA Cup - Lesotho Football Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MASERU \u2013 Likuena head coach Bob Mafoso has named a 45-man provisional squad for the 2026 COSAFA Cup, with a strong focus on uncapped and young talent from the Vodacom Premier League. The squad reflects Mafoso\u2019s intent to broaden the player pool and test emerging players ahead of upcoming international assignments. 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