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

, 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