By; AYO OJEDOKUN, Lagos
Three-time champions and four-time runners-up, Nigeria will know their group opponents when the draw for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification series is staged at the SuperSport Studio in Johannesburg, South Africa on Tuesday evening.
The event will commence at 6.30pm Nigeria time (which is 7.30pm in South Africa).
A total of 48 teams will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each, with only the winner of each group guaranteed a slot at the 34th Africa Cup of Nations that Cote d’Ivoire will stage next year summer. Hosts Cote d’Ivoire are guaranteed a place, alongside the best three second –placed teams in all the 12 groups.
Nigeria, who finished in third place at the 2019 finals in Egypt and reached the Round of 16 at this year’s championship in Cameroon, is among the 12 teams in Pot 1 – the teams that will head the 12 qualification groups. Others in Pot 1 are reigning champions Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Cameroon, Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cote d’Ivoire. Cote d’Ivoire’s participation will be only for formality sake.
Being in the same pot guarantees that none of these teams can be in the same group during the qualification campaign that will last between June 2022 and March 2023. The first two matchdays are in June, with two other matchdays in September and the final two matchdays to take place in March 2023.
In Pot 2 are South Africa, Cape Verde, Guinea, Gabon, Benin Republic, Uganda, Zambia, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Kenya and Sierra Leone.
Pot 3 comprises of Namibia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Niger Republic, Libya, Mozambique, Malawi, Togo, Zimbabwe, The Gambia, Angola and Comoros.
Tanzania, Central African Republic, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Liberia, South Sudan and Sao Tome & Principe make up Pot 4.
Super Falcons to know Women AFCON group opponents on April 25
Nine –time champions Nigeria will know their group phase opponents at the 12th Women Africa Cup of Nations when the draw is staged on Monday, 25th April 2022.
Goals by new birds Ifeoma Onumonu and Esther Okoronkwo steered the Super Falcons to a 3-0 aggregate win over Cote d’Ivoire in the final round of the qualifiers in February. In the earlier round, forward Uchenna Kanu scored both goals in Lagos to lift the Falcons past the Black Queens of Ghana, who won the return leg 1-0 in Accra.
Nigeria won the first edition of the Women Africa Cup of Nations (then known as African Women Championship) staged in the country in 1998, and has won seven other championships. The only times the Super Falcons did not emerge victorious in the history of the competition were when the tournaments were staged in Equatorial Guinea, in 2008 and 2012.
This year’s tournament in Morocco, 2nd – 23rd July comes with added impetus as the four semi finalists will represent Africa at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Australia/New Zealand.
The 12 teams that have qualified to play at the 12th Women Africa Cup of Nations are: Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda, Burundi, Zambia, Togo, Senegal, Tunisia, Botswana, Cameroon, South Africa, Burkina Faso.
They will be divided into four groups of three teams each.
