2024 Women’s Olympic qualifiers: Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco face tough third-round hurdles

The second-round fixtures of the 2024 CAF Women’s Olympic qualifying tournament have been concluded, with eight teams progressing to the third round.

Nigeria defeated Ethiopia 5-1 on aggregate to book a date with Cameroon for a spot in the fourth round.

The Super Falcons held the Ethiopians to a 1-1 draw in Addis Ababa, but the nine-time African champions soared to a crushing 4-0 triumph in Abuja to send Lucy back home empty-handed.

Cameroon were close to being eliminated after they lost 1-0 to Uganda in the first leg of their second-round clash.

But the Lionesses pulled off a stunning 3-0 win (after extra time) in Douala to complete an impressive comeback and set up a tie with Nigeria.

Unlike Cameroon, Ghana had it easy against Benin after claiming a 5-0 aggregate victory.

The Black Queens secured a 0-3 away win in Cotonou before cruising to a 2-0 victory in the return leg at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Zambia had little to do to qualify, though, as they claimed a walkover win over Mali after the Malians withdrew from the tournament.

Tunisia also made it to the third round on the same basis following the withdrawal of Ivory Coast.

Zambia will have their hands full in the third round as they are scheduled to trade tackles with Ghana.

Namibia were, however, no match on the pitch for Morocco as the Atlas Lionesses secured two 2-0 wins home and away to claim a 4-0 aggregate triumph.

Tunisia’s true mettle will be tested by 2022 WAFCON finalists Morocco in what is expected to be a thrilling North African derby.

Botswana, with a FIFA ranking of 150, were dumped out of the tournament by 152-ranked Tanzania.

Tanzania took huge confidence from their 2-0 victory in Dar es Salaam and completed the job with a hard-fought 0-1 win at the Botswana National Stadium in Gaborone.

South Africa claimed a 3-1 aggregate win over DR Congo, with much of the credit going the way of star forward Thembi Kgatlana.

Kgatlana scored the crucial equaliser in their 1-1 first-leg draw in Kinshasa, and the former Atlético Madrid striker grabbed the brace that lifted the reigning African champions to a 2-0 win in Johannesburg.

South Africa will be favourites to advance to the fourth round when they face Tanzania, the lowest-ranked team left in the tournament.

2024 CAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament Third-round fixtures

• Ghana – Zambia
• Tunisia – Morocco
• Cameroon – Nigeria
• Tanzania – South Africa