A total of 24 countries, plus host Ghana have entered the tournament. The first round draw was announced recently with Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon & Equatorial Guinea receiving a bye to the second round. Notably missing from the qualifiers are Egypt(6th place in 2016) & Tunisia(highest ranked team not participating). https://www.busybuddiesng.com/nigeria-draw-bye-2018-womens-afcon-qualifiers/ FIRST ROUND(Feb. 24/25 & Mar. 3/4) Ivory Coast vs. Morocco Swaziland vs. Lesotho Tanzania vs. Zambia Kenya vs. Uganda Sierra Leone vs. Mali Namibia vs. Zimbabwe Congo vs. Central African Republic Senegal vs. Algeria Libya vs. Ethiopia Burkina Faso vs. Gambia SECOND ROUND (April 2 & 10) Burkina Faso/Gambia winner vs. Nigeria Namibia/Zimbabwe winner vs. Tanzania/Zambia winner Lesotho/Swaziland winner vs. South Africa Libya/Ethiopia winner vs. Senegal/Algeria winner Congo/Central African Republic winner vs. Cameroon Kenya/Uganda winner vs. Equatorial Guinea Sierra Leone/Mali winner vs. Ivory Coast/Morocco winner
Just days after the draw was released, FIFA banned Equatorial Guinea from participating in the 2019 WWC & 2020 Olympics for fielding 12 ineligible players during the 2016 Olympic qualifiers. An updated draw has yet to be released. As well as missing the 2019 Women's World Cup and the following year's Olympics, Equatorial Guinea were due to banned from the next two Women's Africa Cup of Nations in 2018 and 2020. http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/41513204
And early reports are out that Ghana may not be ready to host the 2018 tournament. The West African giants secured the hosting rights to the 2018 edition of the eight-nation competition last year. But the country has yet to take any major step towards a successful organization as at 460 days to kickoff. https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomeP...to-host-2018-Women-s-AFCON-Roslyn-Amoh-569941
TEN Brazilian players?? I can maybe understand one or two slipping under the radar, but how do you play that many and not get found out instantly??
it's a very odd situation. They were disqualified from participating in the 2016 Final tournament due to fielding an ineligible player and were [supposedly] banned from the 2018 & 2020 editions then. https://web.archive.org/web/20160813181130/http://www.cafonline.com/en-US/NewsCenter/News/NewsDetails?id=cGoku18JfIkCzfbaiaTs8g== Suggestion: Have Ivory Coast replace Equatorial Guinea's spot and also give Morocco a bye. Or, have Egypt enter the tournament(since they were in the finals in 2016) and have them face Morocco in the first round and move Ivory Coast to Equatorial Guinea's spot.
The draw has been made. I doubt there is reshuffling of teams. Guess the winner of Kenya/Uganda advances to final tournament by default.
so Equatorial Guinea will still participate in the tournament, they just won't be able to qualify for the World Cup. If they advance to the championship tournament and advance to the semifinals, the other 3 teams in the semifinals qualify for the World Cup.
Schedule changed due to the clash with women's symposium, the African football body has announced the shifting of the qualifying series by a month. First round will be play April 2 & 9. Second round June 4 & 11. http://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/2018...s-qualifiers-moved/1b7qiwbmv0mq81r3n7a7ky2n3n
Exact fixtures & dates have been released. As of now, all teams that entered are still set to participate. FIRST LEGS Tuesday 03/04/2018 Kenya vs. Uganda Libya vs. Ethiopia Wednesday 04/04/2018 Tanzania vs. Zambia Congo vs. Central African Republic Senegal vs. Algeria Thursday 05/04/2018 Namibia vs. Zimbabwe Friday 06/04/2018 Lesotho vs. Swaziland Morocco vs. Côte d'Ivoire Sierra Leone vs. Mali Saturday 07/04/2018 Burkina Faso vs. Gambia Second Legs Saturday 07/04/2018 Zambia vs. Tanzania Central African Republic vs. Congo Sunday 08/04/2018 Zimbabwe vs. Namibia Uganda vs. Kenya Monday 09/04/2018 Gambia vs. Burkina Faso Ethiopia vs. Libya Swaziland vs. Lesotho Tuesday 10/04/2018 Côte d'Ivoire vs. Morocco Algeria vs. Senegal Mali vs. Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone withdrew. Revised first round schedule. FIRST LEGS Wednesday 04/04/2018 Tanzania vs. Zambia Congo vs. Central African Republic Senegal vs. Algeria Kenya vs. Uganda Libya vs. Ethiopia Thursday 05/04/2018 Namibia vs. Zimbabwe Friday 06/04/2018 Lesotho vs. Swaziland Morocco vs. Côte d'Ivoire Saturday 07/04/2018 Burkina Faso vs. Gambia Second Legs Saturday 07/04/2018 Central African Republic vs. Congo Sunday 08/04/2018 Zimbabwe vs. Namibia Uganda vs. Kenya Zambia vs. Tanzania Tuesday 10/04/2018 Gambia vs. Burkina Faso Ethiopia vs. Libya Swaziland vs. Lesotho Côte d'Ivoire vs. Morocco Algeria vs. Senegal
TODAY Congo 2 - Central African Republic 0 Senegal 2 - Algeria 1 Zambia 3 - Tanzania 3 Ethiopia 8 - Libya 0 Kenya 1 - Uganda 0
TODAY Zambia 1 - Tanzania 1 Aggr. tied 4-4, Zambia advances on away goals rule Zimbabwe 2 - Namibia 0 Zimbabwe advances on 4-0 aggr. Uganda 0 - Kenya 0 Kenya advances on 1-0 aggr. Congo 1 - Central African Republic 0 Congo advances on 3-0 aggr. SECOND ROUND(June 4 & 11) Burkina Faso/Gambia winner vs. Nigeria Zimbabwe vs. Zambia Lesotho/Swaziland winner vs. South Africa Libya/Ethiopia winner vs. Senegal/Algeria winner Congo vs. Cameroon Kenya vs. Equatorial Guinea Mali vs. Ivory Coast/Morocco winner
CORRECTION Second leg of Congo vs. CAR. Congo 1 - Central African Rep. 1 *Futbol24 reported 1-0. CAF has score as 1-1. http://www.cafonline.com/en-us/comp.../News/NewsDetails?id=61SjloE1TZiRykMfcX7nCg==
TODAY Algeria 2 - Senegal 0 Algeria advances on 3-2 aggr. Ivort Coast 0 - Morocco 0 Aggr. tied 1-1, Ivory Coast advances on away goals. Ethiopia 7 - Libya 0 Ethiopia advances on 15-0 aggr. Lesotho 2 - Swaziland 1 Lesotho advances on 3-1 aggr. Gambia 2 - Burkina Faso 1 Aggr. tied 3-3. Away goals tied 1-1. Gambia advances on PKs 5-3.
SECOND ROUND(June 4 & 11) Gambia vs. Nigeria Zimbabwe vs. Zambia Lesothovs. South Africa Ethiopia vs. Algeria Congo vs. Cameroon Kenya vs. Equatorial Guinea Mali vs. Ivory Coast
Gambia vs. Burkina Faso match. Other videos on Eye Africa TV's Facebook page shows the PK shootout. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1247334522065747
The commentary during the penalty shootout is hysterical. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1247502968715569
This could put just some little (unfair?) pressure on penalty takers... By the way, did Burkina Faso borrow some used jerseys from Nigeria?
Second round begins on Wednesday. All first legs are played on June 6. Second legs played June 9-11. SECOND ROUND First legs June 6 Gambia vs. Nigeria Zambia vs. Zimbabwe Lesotho vs. South Africa Congo vs. Cameroon Kenya vs. Equatorial Guinea Algeria vs. Ethiopia Ivory Coast vs. Mali Second Legs June 9 Cameroon vs. Congo Equatorial Guinea vs. Kenya June 10 Zimbabwe vs. Zambia South Africa vs. Lesotho Ethiopia vs. Algeria Mali vs. Ivory Coast June 11 Nigeria vs. Gambia