BEVERLY HILLS, May 10, (THEWILL) – As originally scheduled, Africa’s football governing body, CAF, conducted the draw for the qualifiers of the TOTAL Women’s Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted by the North African country of Morocco next year on Monday, at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
The Monday event was also used to conduct two other draws: the African Qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022 and the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022.
The first of the draws, for an expanded 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, produced a mouth-watering tie to look forward to in the opening rounds. It pitched defending champions, the Super Falcons of Nigeria, Africa’s top-ranked team, against neighbours and perennial rivals the Black Queens of Ghana, ranked second.
The battle for supremacy between the two will continue as one of 22 ties of 44 teams that CAF seeded based on geography. It will be the first edition organised under the format of 12 teams and CAF Senior Manager of Women Football & Futsal Heba Sarwat conducted the draw, assisted by Egyptian footballer Nadine Ghazy.
The women’s AFCON will serve the dual purpose of being a qualifier for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
As the World Cup in 2023 has expanded to now feature 32 teams rather than the 24 of before, two more African teams will get a second chance to join the semi-finalists from the women AFCON to qualify for the World Cup at a 10-team tournament set for New Zealand and Australia with three more nations sealing places at the finals.
Based on 12-team format for the AFCON, Monday’s draw set the path for qualifiers that will result in 22 aggregate winners progressing to the second round from whence the 11 nations that will join hosts Morocco at next year’s finals will emerge.
After COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020 edition, Morocco 2022 tournament will be the first to feature 12 nations.
The results of all three draws: For the AFCON, for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022 and the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022 are as follows:
Qualifiers for the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations:
First round:
M1 – Uganda v Ethiopia
M2 – Kenya v South Sudan
M3 – Eritrea v Burundi
M4 – Djibouti v Rwanda
M5 – Malawi v Zambia
M6 – Tanzania v Namibia
M7 – Zimbabwe v Eswatini
M8 – Angola v Botswana
M9 – Mozambique v South Africa
M10 – Algeria v Sudan
M11 – Egypt v Tunisia
M12 – Equatorial Guinea v DR Congo
M13 – Sao Tome and Principe v Togo
M14 – Congo v Gabon
M15 – Central African Republic v Cameroon
M16 – Sierra Leone v Gambia
M17 – Liberia v Senegal
M18 – Mali v Guinea
M19 – Guinea Bissau v Mauritania
M20 – Burkina Faso v Benin
M21 – Nigeria v Ghana
M22 – Niger v Cote d’Ivoire
Second Round
Winner M1 v Winner M2
Winner M3 v Winner M4
Winner M5 v Winner M6
Winner M7 v Winner M8
Winner M9 v Winner M10
Winner M11 v Winner M12
Winner M13 v Winner M14
Winner M15 v Winner M16
Winner M17 v Winner M18
Winner M19 v Winner M20
Winner M21 v Winner M22
African qualifiers for Under-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022:
First Round:
(1st leg: January 13, 14, 15, 2022 – 2nd leg: January 27, 28, 29, 2022)
M1 – Eritrea v South Sudan
M2 – Equatorial Guinea v Kenya
M3 – DR Congo v Rwanda
M4 – Senegal v Sierra Leone
M5 – Benin v Mauritania
Second Round
S1 – Winner M1 v Cameroon
S2 – Zambia v Namibia
S3 – Djibouti v Burundi
S4 – Tanzania v Botswana
S5 – Winner M2 v South Africa
S6 – Uganda v Ethiopia
S7 – Egypt v Guinea Bissau
S8 – Winner M 3 v Nigeria
S9 – Liberia v Guinea
S10 – Winner M 4 v Ghana
S11 – Niger v Sao Tome
S12 – Winner M 5 v Morocco
Third Round
T1 – Winner S1 v Winner S2
T2 – Winner S3 v Winner S4
T3 – Winner S5 v Winner S6
T4 – Winner S7 v Winner S8
T5 – Winner S9 v Winner S10
T6 – Winner S11 v Winner S12
Fourth Round
Winner T1 v Winner T2
Winner T3 v Winner T4
Winner T5 v Winner T6
Aggregate winners qualify to represent Africa in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022
African qualifiers for the Under-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022:
First Round
M1 – Djibouti v Eritrea
M2 – South Sudan v Rwanda
M3 – Eswatini v Mozambique
M4- Mauritania v Tunisia
M5- Niger v Benin
M6 – Togo v Mali
M7 – DR Congo v Sao Tome
M8 – Equatorial Guinea v Central African Republic
Second Round
S1 – Winner M1 v Tanzania
S2 – Burundi v Namibia
S3 – Angola v Botswana
S4 – Winner M2 v Ethiopia
S5 – Kenya v Uganda
S6 – Winner M3 v South Africa
S7 – Zambia v Malawi
S8 – Winner M4 v Ghana
S9 – Winner M5 v Morocco
S10 – Gambia v Burkina Faso
S11 – Winner M6 – Senegal
S12 – Guinea v Sierra Leone
S13 – Gabon v Guinea Bissau
S14 – Winner M7 v Cameroon
S15 – Egypt v Congo
S16 – Winner M8 v Nigeria
Three more rounds will follow, with two teams representing Africa in the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
