By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Against all odds, African teams to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Australia and New Zealand have performed above the expectations of many bookmakers before the competition in Down Under started on July 20. It will end on August 20, 2023.
After the preliminary round, no fewer than three African countries out of four that qualified for the ninth edition of the biggest women’s football competition in the world to represent the Confederation of African Football (CAF) booked their tickets for the Round of 16 stage of the Mundial.
For the first time in the history of the tournament, four teams from the continent are competing in the tournament, and three of them have progressed to the knockout phase.
The successful nations who made it through to the knockout stage are the perennial campaigners Nigeria, the first to qualify at the conclusion of Group B matches then followed by South Africa on Wednesday while Morocco booked her own ticket on Thursday.
Only debutant, Zambia crashed out after the preliminary round although the Copper Queens won their last Group C match against Costa Rica 3-1on July 31 to bow out with dignity.
But Zambia showed that they did not come to Australia and New Zealand to admire the beautiful countries after they were thrashed 5-0 each by Japan and Spain respectively. They bounced back to reckoning in the last match and got a consolation 3-1 victory over Costa Rica.
For Nigeria, the first of the three African countries to qualify for the Round of 16, it was a hard fought battle in Group B to get the results they wanted by holding the reigning Olympic champions Canada to a barren draw, defeated co-host Australia 3-2 in the second game and grinding out another barren draw against Republic of Ireland in the last group match.
They have yet to lose in the tournament with a surprise victory over Australia, coupled with two 0-0 draws against Ireland and Canada.
Other African teams that are leaving their marks on the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand are Republic of South Africa and the Kingdom of Morocco.
Like Zambia and Morocco, South Africa lost her first match but qualified for the Round of 16 in their second tournament in a row, and their first-ever win at the Women’s World Cup secured their place in the knockouts as the thrilling 3-2 win over Italy sent them into the last 16.
They have played well, only losing to Sweden on a 90th-minute goal, and tying Argentina 2-2 in a match in which the South Africans held a 2-0 lead.
Also, the Atlas Lionesses of Morocco tasted heavy defeat on their debut after losing 6-0 to Germany but beat South Korea 1-0 and crowned their efforts with another 1-0 victory over Colombia on Thursday thus qualify for the Round of 16 in her first-ever World Cup appearance. READ ALSO:
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Morocco qualified for the tournament for the first time-ever, becoming the first side from the Arab world to reach the women’s tournament. The team also featured the first player to wear a hijab during a World Cup match.
They got their first win at the World Cup in their second match, a 1-0 vs South Korea, and they advanced to the Round of 16 with a win against Colombia on the final day of group action on August 3.
As closer look at the performance of the 32 countries seeking to win the biggest prize in women’s football showed that teams from the African continent are doing better than anticipated as three out of four have qualified for the World Cup Round of 16 bracket.
