Nigeria has been exempted from the first-round of the qualifying sequence for the 2026 African Girls’s Cup of Nations, which shall be hosted by Morocco for the third consecutive time.
Nigeria is the report title holder of the championship, which was received by South Africa in 2022.
And so, the Tremendous Falcons, alongside the opposite prime six ranked African groups: South Africa, Morocco, Zambia, Ghana, Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire, have obtained a move to the second spherical of the qualifiers.
Nevertheless, the Tremendous Falcons will meet the winner of the preliminary spherical tie involving Benin Republic and Sierra Leone within the second-round of the qualifying sequence.
Within the programme for the championship introduced by CAF yesterday, 38 nations had been listed for the preliminaries for the match, 4 fewer than the quantity that started the method for the 2024 version.
Both sides will play two rounds of dwelling and away ties to determine which 11 groups will be a part of the host nation at WAFCON 2026.
The primary qualifying spherical will maintain in February 2025, with the second spherical in October subsequent yr.
CAF is but to announce the dates of the match.
Botswana and DR Congo have certified for the delayed 2024 finals, however might each be lacking from the 2026 version after being handed a tough draw.
They are going to face one another within the first spherical of preliminaries, and the winners will then meet reigning continental champions, South Africa.
The delayed 2024 WAFCON finals are scheduled to carry in Morocco from July 5 to 26, subsequent yr, having been pushed again due to the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games.
The timing of the 12-team match was solely introduced in June.
In yesterday’s attracts, Angola was pitted in opposition to Zimbabwe, Malawi will meet Congo-Brazzaville, it’s Botswana versus DR Congo, whereas Tanzania will face Equatorial Guinea.
In different pairings, Uganda is up in opposition to Ethiopia, Eswatini will battle with neighbours, Namibia, Burundi will meet Burkina Faso, it’s Djibouti versus Togo, South Sudan in opposition to Algeria, whereas Rwanda will face Egypt, simply as Kenya will battle with Tunisia.
Additionally within the preliminary spherical are the Niger versus The Gambia conflict, Benin versus Sierra Leone, Guinea versus Cape Verde, Gabon in opposition to Mali and Chad versus Senegal.
The primary spherical video games will maintain on a house and away foundation from February 17 to 26, 2025.
Within the second spherical, which can maintain from October 20 to twenty-eight, 2025, the winner of the fixture involving Angola and Zimbabwe will conflict with the winner of the Malawi versus Congo-Brazzaville tie, the Tanzania versus Equatorial Guinea winner will conflict with the victor within the recreation between Uganda and Ethiopia, whereas the survivor of the Eswatini versus Namibia recreation will meet Zambia within the second spherical.
The winner within the Burundi versus Burkina Faso has been pitted in opposition to the victor within the Djibouti versus Togo match, the winner of the South Sudan versus Algeria recreation will meet with Cameroon, whereas the survivor within the recreation between Rwanda and Egypt will meet Ghana within the second spherical.
In the event that they qualify for the second spherical, the winner of the battle between Kenya and Tunisia will play in opposition to the winner of the sport between Niger and The Gambia, with the winner of the sport between Guinea and Cape Verde billed to satisfy with the victor within the recreation between Gabon and Mali, whereas the winner of the sport between Chad and Senegal will meet Cote d’Ivoire within the second spherical.
