Cameroon and Senegal have secured a passage into the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup inter-confederation play-offs following victories over Botswana and Tunisia respectively in the fifth and sixth place play-offs of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.
Cameroon, who qualified for the 2019 World Cup in France by virtue of reaching the 2018 Wafcon semi-final, suffered a 1-0 loss to holders Nigeria in the quarter-finals and needed a brilliant goal from Ajara Nchout to seal their ticket.
The Inter Milan forward picked the ball outside the box before firing in a thunderous shot that flew past Botswana goalkeeper Maitumelo Bosija on the stroke of half-time.
The second half was quiet with neither side posing danger but the Indomitable Lionesses were reduced to 10 when Fadimatou Aretouyap was sent off for a stump on Bosija with 10 minutes remaining.
Cameroon leave the tournament disappointed, having failed to achieve their main target of a semi-final place while they only managed one win before Sunday’s match with two draws in the group stages landing them the difficult knockout fixture with Nigeria.
Botswana, meanwhile gave a good account of themselves in what was their debut appearance at Wafcon given they played the top three ranked nations (Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroon) and still managed to reach the quarter-finals.
Senegal secured their passage into the inter-confederation play-offs after edging out Tunisia 4-2 on post-match penalties following a 1-1 draw in regulation time. The Senegalese will now try their luck in the 10-team playoff in New Zealand in February 2023.
Senegal, who lost 4-2 on post-match penalties to Zambia following a 1-1 draw in regulation time in the quarter-finals, exit the continental tournament after winning three while losing two games, having scored four goals and conceded two.
Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco and Zambia sealed their tickets after making it to the semi-finals and the inter-confederation play-offs will determine the final three qualification spots for the 2023 Fifa Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The 10 teams will be split into three groups, with the winner of each group qualifying for the World Cup. New Zealand and another guest nation will also play friendlies against participating teams and each other as part of the event.
There will be two slots each for teams from Africa, Asia, North America, Central America and the Caribbean as well as South America while Oceania and Europe have one place apiece.