The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament kicked off on Saturday, July 5, with an intense game between the host nation, Morocco and Zambia, ending in a 2-2 draw. Throughout the week, teams from Groups A, B, and C have competed on the field, aiming to advance from the group stage to the quarterfinals, which start on July 18 after a three-day rest period.
Group A
Morocco and Zambia are tied in first place after the two teams have secured two wins and a draw. The draw was between the two teams, with the Zambian side looking like the likely winner. However, in the 89th minute, the Moroccan side equalized, forcing a draw.
Senegal, which looked sharp in its opening match, beating DR Congo 4-0, has gone on to lose its two games against Zambia (3-2) and Morocco (1-0). Senegal had an early lead against Zambia, but unfortunately, it soon lost the game to the Zambians, with Barbra Banda finding the back of the net twice in the first and second halves and Racheal Kundananji in the first five minutes of the second half.
The last team in Group A, DR Congo, has struggled throughout the tournament but proved itself to be a rising power on the continent. The team scored two goals against Morocco, which has proven to be a contender for this year’s title despite losing (4-2) and it managed to hold the strong Zambian front to only one goal by Racheal in the ninth minute.
Group B
Nigeria is indeed chasing its lost glory from the previous tournament, as they have maintained a clean sheet in all the matches played so far. The team started with a win against Tunisia (3-0) before proceeding to beat Botswana (1-0). No team has scored against the sharp-looking Nigerian side. However, in their weekend matchup against Algeria, they failed to score. It was a jubilant draw for the Algerian side, which made it out of the group stages.
Algeria sits second on the table with one win against Botswana (1-0) and two draws against Tunisia and Nigeria.
Tunisia, on the other hand, had a tough loss to Nigeria in its opening game and fought hard for at least a draw against the Algerian side. Their hopes of advancing from the group stages were dimmed by their weekend loss to Botswana 2-1.
Botswana, which came in as underdogs, has proven to be a tough team. They have only allowed one goal to their opponents. Despite struggling at the front end, they have proved to be a tough team to penetrate in their defense.
Group C
South Africa, who are the reigning champions, were surprised to be held to a 1-1 draw by the lowest-ranked team at the games, Tanzania. Despite their 2-0 win over the Ghana side in their opening game, the South African side failed to prevent the Tanzanian side from scoring a goal. In a game that the South African side heavily dominated at all ends, Tanzania managed to slice through its defense and secure a goal in the 24th minute.
The Tanzanian side nearly held the South Africans to a goalless game, but in the 70th minute, Bambanani Mbane scored a goal to bring back hope for the reigning champions.
Mali is tied with South Africa with four points (one win and one draw). Mali won its opening game against Tanzania 1-0 before drawing 1-1 against Ghana.
Tanzania and Ghana sit at the bottom with no wins and one draw. Ghana, which one would have expected to be the tougher team next to South Africa in this group, is struggling. The team has achieved a high finish in its previous appearances at the WAFCON and aims to improve further. Its best finish was fourth place in 2016, but over the years, it has finished in third place three times and fourth place four times.
Games This Week
South Africa will face Mali. Mali will have a lot to prove as they seek to advance out of the group stages and hope to replicate their success in 2018, when they finished in fourth place, the highest they have ever achieved.
Ghana will face Tanzania in a crucial match for a better ranking and the chance to advance to the quarterfinals. Both teams aim to score high to improve their chances of advancing from the group stages.
Quarterfinals
So far, five teams have secured their spot in the quarterfinals. This stage promises to be an exciting showdown.
The game between Nigeria and Zambia is the only confirmed match so far, with the rest scheduled to take place after Monday’s games.
