Africa’s four direct places at next year’s Women’s World Cup will be decided at the weekend as the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco reaches the quarter-final stage.
The tournament, which kicked off late last month, also serves as the qualifiers for the World Cup in Brazil, with the four Wafcon semi-finalists taking up the continent’s automatic places in the 32-team tournament from June 24 to July 25, 2027.
Well, the question that everyone’s asking right now is where does Gianni Infantino find himself after this very tumultuous week?
Three of the four countries who represented Africa at the last finals in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 are in contention for a return trip, although Morocco meet South Africa in the last eight in Rabat on Saturday, and so one of them will not get direct entry.
There is a long-winded back-door process, however, for two of the quarter-final losers that also offers World Cup qualification, first via playoffs at the Cup of Nations on August 13 and then on to two separate inter-confederation playoff tournaments in November and February.
Nigeria, who have been to every World Cup since 1991, are in the running for a 10th tournament appearance, despite having been beaten in their opening game in Morocco by upstarts Malawi.
The Nigerians, who are defending African champions, bounced back to beat both Zambia and Egypt and now face Cameroon in Casablanca on Sunday.
Malawi, 153 in the women’s world rankings, take on Ghana in Rabat the same day, having narrowly eliminated Zambia in the group phase.
Ghana are looking to qualify for the finals for the first time since 2007 at the World Cup.
If Malawi, whose Chawinga sisters have scored five tournament goals between them, were to win, it would be their first World Cup appearance, made even more significant by the fact this is the first time they have qualified for the Cup of Nations.
The quarter-finals get underway on Saturday with Algeria taking on Ivory Coast in Casablanca. The Ivorians went to the 2015 World Cup in Canada, but Algeria have never qualified.
The four weekend winners, with World Cup places secured, move on to the Wafcon semi-finals on Wednesday with the final in Rabat on Sunday, August 16.
REUTERS
