The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has announced the full details and format of the newly launched Munhumutapa Challenge Cup.
The new competition adopts an FA Cup-style format, bringing together all registered teams from ZIFA’s structures — from the Premier Soccer League down to the lower divisions, including clubs from the Area Zones. This inclusive approach means grassroots teams will have the opportunity to compete against top-flight sides in the same tournament.
The competition becomes Zimbabwe’s largest knockout tournament, with the winners guaranteed a place in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Valued at US$5 million per season over a five-year period, the tournament will kick off this weekend, starting with teams from Division One down to the Area Zones. The draw for the first-round fixtures will be conducted on Wednesday.
Format
The tournament will follow a knockout system, with all matches played as one-legged fixtures.
In Division One, all teams will take part in the draw based on their respective regions — Northern, Southern, Eastern and Central. Each region will hold its own draw, progressing from the preliminary round to the last 16 and then the last four.
A total of 16 teams — four from each region — will qualify for the next stage.
In the 10 provincial leagues, a similar format will be used, but only one team from each province will progress. This means the winner from Division 2A will face the winner from Division 2B to determine who advances to the next stage from that province.
At Area Zone level, only two teams will qualify for the next round. The same system will apply, with inter-regional play-offs used to determine the two teams that progress.
The 16 teams from Division One, along with 10 provincial league representatives and two from the Area Zones — making a total of 28 teams — will then be drawn against each other. The 14 winners from this stage will join the 18 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League clubs in the Round of 32.
The knockout format will then continue through to the final to determine the winner of the competition.
The same structure will also apply to both the men’s and women’s tournaments.
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