The Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) is the governing body of
association football in Lesotho, a landlocked country in
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
.
It was formed in 1932 and it is based in the city of
Maseru
Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the Lesotho–South Africa border. Maseru had a population of 330,760 in the 2016 census. T ...
.
The board helps run the
Lesotho national football team
The Lesotho national football team represents Lesotho in men's international football and is governed by the Lesotho Football Association. The team's nickname is "Likuena" (Crocodiles). The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals ...
as well as domestic competitions such as the
Lesotho Premier League, the
Lesotho Independence Cup and the
Vodacom Soccer Spectacular
Vodacom Soccer Spectacular is a soccer tournament that was launched by Vodacom Lesotho in 2008 and took place in 2011.
Description
The Vodacom Soccer Spectacular soccer tournament was launched by Vodacom Lesotho in 2008 and took place in 201 ...
.
History
Despite been formed in 1932, the Lesotho Football Association did not gain membership of
Fédération Internationale de Football Association
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was founded ...
(FIFA), the world governing body for association football, until 1964.
In 1963, LEFA gained membership of the
Confederation of African Football (CAF). CAF is the controlling body for African association football and membership of it is required to compete in qualifying for
Africa Cup of Nations or the event itself.
LEFA is also part of the
Council of Southern Africa Football Associations
Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (french: Conseil des Associations de Football en Afrique Australe; pt, Conselho das Associações de Futebol da África Austral), officially abbreviated as COSAFA, is an association of the footbal ...
(COSAFA) which acts as an association of football associations for Southern African countries.
Lesotho joined COSAFA in 1997 which is the year COSAFA was formed.
COSAFA organises the
COSAFA Cup, a competition Lesotho has finished runner-up in once.
LEFA runs the
Lesotho national football team
The Lesotho national football team represents Lesotho in men's international football and is governed by the Lesotho Football Association. The team's nickname is "Likuena" (Crocodiles). The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals ...
, whose first international match was a 2–1 win against
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...
in 1970.
The Lesotho national team has never qualified for an Africa Cup of Nations or a World Cup but they have competed in multiple COSAFA Cups with the first being the
1999 edition.
The national team reached the final of the
2000 COSAFA Cup
The 2000 COSAFA Cup is the 4th edition of the football tournament that involves teams from COSAFA. Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and ...
but lost 6–0 on
aggregate to
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
.
LEFA also helps in the running of the
Lesotho women's national football team.
They played their first international match in 1998 and have since competed in the
COSAFA Women's Championship on two occasions. In Lesotho, the
Lesotho Premier League is the top domestic football league.
The winner of the league qualifies for the
CAF Champions League. the president of LEFA is Salemane Phafane.
In February 2022, Lesotho Football Association appointed former Angola and Botswana boss
Veselin Jelusic as their new coach.
References
{{National Members of the Confederation of African Football
Lesotho
Football in Lesotho
Sports governing bodies in Lesotho
Sports organizations established in 1932