Zambia and Zimbabwe, this year’s Cosafa Cup finalists, have a rivalry stretching back to before independence and in the Cosafa Cup they have matched each other virtually pound-for-pound over the 20 years since the competition was first launched.

They go into Sunday’s final at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace near Rustenburg in South Africa with four Cosafa titles each and in this tournament they have played each other six times before – with two victories apiece and two draws.

However, since Zimbabwe’s independence the two nations have met a massive 44 times in all competitions becoming the second most matches for the Warriors over a nation, just behind Malawi.

In the 44 matches played so far, the Chipolopolo leads the head to head battles with 16 victories while Zimbabwe has won 8 while 20 matches have ended as draws.

The matches between the two teams have over the years been tightly contested producing close margins with a few goals scored.

Today’s showdown between the rivals – their fourth in a Cosafa Castle Cup final – comes four years after Chipolopolo beat the Warriors 2-0 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.