The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Wednesday released the fixtures for the first round of the 2020 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifiers.
Read also CAF increases participating teams at AWCON
With AWCON 2020 set to witness an increase in number of participating teams, CAF recorded entries from 36 different nations across the continent for the now 12-nation football showpiece.
Of all women’s national teams on the continent to have shown interest, eight teams including defending champions Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, South Africa, Mali and Equatorial Guinea have all been given a free pass into the second round.
The first round fixtures will see Gambia kickoff their maiden qualification campaign against Guinea Bissau, while Botswana face their COSAFA rivals Namibia, as 2019 CECAFA Women’s Cup hosts Tanzania reignite their regional rivalry with champions Kenya.
ROUND 1 FIXTURES IN FULL
Zambia vs Mozambique
Malawi vs Eswatini
Zimbabwe vs Mauritius
Namibia vs Botswana
Gabon vs Central Africa
Angola vs Congo
DR Congo vs Sao Tome and Principe
Tanzania vs Kenya
Burundi vs Uganda
Ethiopia vs Djibouti
Liberia vs Senegal
Gambia vs Guinea Bissau
Togo vs Niger
Algeria vs Burkina Faso
According to CAF, these fixtures will take place in between 6th and 14th of April 2020.
For the second round of the games, winners between Zambia and Mozambique face winners the winners of Zimbabwe and Mauritius, while the winners of Malawi and Eswatini tie face South Africa.
Equatorial Guinea battle the winner between Angola and Congo, Cameroon will face the winners between Burundi and Uganda, while Morocco slugs it out with the winners of the Ethiopia/Djibouti tie.
Mali then face the winners of the Liberia/Senegal tie, and the winners of Guinea-Bissau/Gambia will meet Ghana, while Cote d’Ivoire will look to test their mettle against the winners of Algeria and Burkina Faso.
It is important to note that the whole of Africa awaits the announcement of the new hosts for the tournament billed to run from the 23rd of November to 1st of December 2020 after Congo pulled out.
