2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament

2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament
Tournament details
DatesFirst round: 12–18 July 2023
Second round: 25–31 October 2023
Third round: 23–28 February 2024
Fourth Round: 5–9 April 2024[1]
Teams25 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played36
Goals scored93 (2.58 per match)
Top scorer(s)South Africa Thembi Kgatlana
(5 goals)
← 2020
2028 →

The 2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament (officially, the Women's Olympic Football Tournament Qualifiers)[2] was the sixth edition of the CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the quadrennial international football competition organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to determine which women's national teams from Africa qualify for the Olympic football tournament.

On 24 February 2022, FIFA awarded CAF two slots for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in France.[3]

Entrants

Fifty-three CAF members were eligible to enter qualifying, with Zimbabwe having been suspended since 24 February 2022,[4] though only 25 submitted entries.[1] The draw took place on 30 May 2023 in Cairo, Egypt.[5] Seven teams were awarded a bye to the second round of qualifying based upon their results in the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations.[6]

Second round entrants
(7 teams) 		First round entrants
(18 teams)
  1.  South Africa (54)
  2.  Morocco (73)
  3.  Zambia (77)
  4.  Nigeria (42)
  5.  Cameroon (56)
  6.  Tunisia (76)
  7.  Botswana (150)
  1.  Ghana (59)
  2.  Ivory Coast (64)
  3.  Equatorial Guinea (71)
  4.  Mali (81)
  5.  Congo (111)
  6.  DR Congo (112)
  7.  Burkina Faso (141)
  8.  Benin (146)
  9.  Ethiopia (125)
  10.  Guinea (136)
  11.  Sierra Leone (138)
  12.  Namibia (147)
  13.  Tanzania (152)
  14.  Uganda (160)
  15.  Rwanda (163)
  16.  Guinea-Bissau (172)
  17.  Mozambique (173)
  18.  Chad (unranked)
Notes
  • Teams in bold qualified for the Olympics.
  • Numbers in parentheses indicate world ranking at the time of the draw.
Did not enter

Draw

The teams being drawn into round 1 were divided into 4 pots based upon geographical considerations, with teams from pot 1 being drawn against teams from pot 2 and teams from pot 3 being drawn against teams from pot 4; an empty pot was used to randomize which team played at home first. One team each from pots 1 and 2 were drawn and placed into pot 5, where the first team drawn was designated to play the first leg at home and the second team drawn was designated to play the second leg at home. This process was repeated until pots 1 and 2 were empty, then the same process occurred with pots 3 and 4.[7]

Pot 1 (WAFU A) Pot 2 (WAFU B) Pot 3 (UNIFFAC) Pot 4 (COSAFA & CECAFA)

Format

Four rounds of home-and-away matches determined the two CAF representatives to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in France. If the aggregate scores were tied at the end of the second leg, then 30 minutes of extra time were played. If the score was still level after extra time, then kicks from the penalty spot were used to determine the winner. The matches were played in the FIFA match windows in July and October 2023 and in February and April 2024.[1][8]

Match schedule
Round Dates
First round 10–18 July 2023
Second round 23–31 October 2023
Third round 23–28 February 2024
Fourth round 5–9 April 2024

Bracket

The match bracket was as follows:[7]

First roundSecond roundThird roundFourth round
                            
10–18 July 2023
 Guinea-Bissau 2 2 4
23–31 October 2023
 Benin 2 3 5
 Benin 0 0 0
10–18 July 2023
 Ghana 3 2 5
 Guinea 0 0 0
19–28 February 2024
 Ghana 3 4 7
 Ghana 0 3 3
10–18 July 2023
 Zambia 1 3 4
 Burkina Faso 0 2 2
23–31 October 2023
 Mali (a.e.t.) 1 2 3
 Mali — —
 Zambia — — w/o
5–9 April 2024
 Zambia (a.e.t.) 1 2 3
10–18 July 2023
 Morocco 2 0 2
 Ivory Coast — — w/o
23–31 October 2023
 Sierra Leone — —
 Ivory Coast — —
 Tunisia — — w/o
19–28 February 2024
 Tunisia 1 1 2
10–18 July 2023
 Morocco 2 4 6
 Namibia 2 0 2
23–31 October 2023
 Equatorial Guinea 0 0 0
 Namibia 0 0 0
 Morocco 2 2 4
10–18 July 2023
 Uganda (a.e.t.) 3 1 4
23–31 October 2023
 Rwanda 3 0 3
 Uganda 2 0 2
 Cameroon (a.e.t.) 0 3 3
19–28 February 2024
 Cameroon 0 0 0
10–18 July 2023
 Nigeria 0 1 1
 Ethiopia 6 4 10
23–31 October 2023
 Chad 0 0 0
 Ethiopia 1 0 1
 Nigeria 1 4 5
5–9 April 2024
 Nigeria 1 0 1
10–18 July 2023
 South Africa 0 0 0
 Congo — —
23–31 October 2023
 Tanzania — — w/o
 Tanzania 2 1 3
 Botswana 0 0 0
19–28 February 2024
 Tanzania 0 0 0
10–18 July 2023
 South Africa 3 1 4
 Mozambique — —
23–31 October 2023
 DR Congo — — w/o
 DR Congo 1 0 1
 South Africa 1 2 3

First round

2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament first round
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Guinea-Bissau  4–5  Benin 2–2 2–3
Guinea  0–7  Ghana 0–3 0–4
Burkina Faso  2–3  Mali 0–1 2–2 (a.e.t.)
Ivory Coast  w/o[9]  Sierra Leone — —
Namibia  2–0  Equatorial Guinea 2–0 0–0
Uganda  4–3  Rwanda 3–3 1–0 (a.e.t.)
Ethiopia  10–0  Chad 6–0 4–0
Congo  w/o[10]  Tanzania — —
Mozambique  w/o[11]  DR Congo — —
Guinea-Bissau 2–2 Benin
 Report
Benin 3–2 Guinea-Bissau
 Report

Benin won 5–4 on aggregate.

Guinea 0–3 Ghana
Report
Ghana 4–0 Guinea
 Report

Ghana won 7–0 on aggregate.

Burkina Faso 0–1 Mali
Report
Mali 2–2 (a.e.t.) Burkina Faso
 Report

Mali won 3–2 on aggregate.

Ivory Coast Cancelled Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone Cancelled Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast won on walkover after Sierra Leone withdrew.[9]

Namibia 2–0 Equatorial Guinea
 Report
FNB Stadium, Nasrec (South Africa)
Equatorial Guinea 0–0 Namibia
Report

Namibia won 2–0 on aggregate.

Uganda 3–3 Rwanda
 Report
Rwanda 0–1 (a.e.t.) Uganda
Report

Uganda won 4–3 on aggregate.

Ethiopia 6–0 Chad
 Report
Chad 0–4 Ethiopia
Report

Ethiopia won 10–0 on aggregate.

Congo Cancelled Tanzania
Tanzania Cancelled Congo

Tanzania won on walkover after Congo withdrew.[10]

Mozambique Cancelled DR Congo
DR Congo Cancelled Mozambique

DR Congo won on walkover after Mozambique withdrew.[11]

Second round

2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament second round
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Benin  0–5  Ghana 0–3 0–2
Mali  w/o[12]  Zambia — —
Ivory Coast  w/o[13]  Tunisia — —
Namibia  0–4  Morocco 0–2 0–2
Uganda  2–3  Cameroon 2–0 0–3 (a.e.t.)
Ethiopia  1–5  Nigeria 1–1 0–4
Tanzania  3–0  Botswana 2–0 1–0
DR Congo  1–3  South Africa 1–1 0–2
Benin 0–3 Ghana
Report
Ghana 2–0 Benin
 Report

Ghana won 5–0 on aggregate.

Mali Cancelled Zambia
Zambia Cancelled Mali

Zambia won on walkover after Mali withdrew.[12]

Ivory Coast Cancelled Tunisia
Tunisia Cancelled Ivory Coast

Tunisia won on walkover after Ivory Coast withdrew.[13]

Namibia 0–2 Morocco
Report
Morocco 2–0 Namibia
 Report

Morocco won 4–0 on aggregate.

Uganda 2–0 Cameroon
 Report
FUFA Technical Centre, Njeru
Cameroon 3–0 (a.e.t.) Uganda
 Report

Cameroon won 3–2 on aggregate.

Ethiopia 1–1 Nigeria
 Report
Nigeria 4–0 Ethiopia
 Report

Nigeria won 5–1 on aggregate.

Tanzania 2–0 Botswana
 Report
Botswana 0–1 Tanzania
Report

Tanzania won 3–0 on aggregate.

DR Congo 1–1 South Africa
 Report
South Africa 2–0 DR Congo
 Report

South Africa won 3–1 on aggregate.

Third round

2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament third round
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Ghana  3–4  Zambia 0–1 3–3
Tunisia  2–6  Morocco 1–2 1–4
Cameroon  0–1  Nigeria 0–0 0–1
Tanzania  0–4  South Africa 0–3 0–1
Ghana 0–1 Zambia
Report
Zambia 3–3 Ghana
 Report

Zambia won 4–3 on aggregate.

Tunisia 1–2 Morocco
 Report
Stade municipal de Soliman, Soliman
Morocco 4–1 Tunisia
 Report

Morocco won 6–2 on aggregate.

Cameroon 0–0 Nigeria
Report
Nigeria 1–0 Cameroon
 Report

Nigeria won 1–0 on aggregate.

Tanzania 0–3 South Africa
Report
South Africa 1–0 Tanzania
 Report

South Africa won 4–0 on aggregate.

Fourth round

The winners of the fourth round ties qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France.

2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament fourth round
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Zambia  3–2  Morocco 1–2 2–0 (a.e.t.)
Nigeria  1–0  South Africa 1–0 0–0
Zambia 1–2 Morocco
 Report
Referee: Aline Marie Noelle Guimbang Etong (Cameroon)
Morocco 0–2 (a.e.t.) Zambia
Report

Zambia won 3–2 on aggregate.

Nigeria 1–0 South Africa
 Report
Referee: Ghada Mehat (Algeria)
South Africa 0–0 Nigeria
Report

Nigeria won 1–0 on aggregate.

Qualified teams for the 2024 Summer Olympics

The following two teams from CAF qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympic women's football tournament in France.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in Summer Olympics
 Nigeria 9 April 2024 3 (2000, 2004, 2008)
 Zambia 10 April 2024 1 (2020)

Goalscorers

There were 93 goals scored in 36 matches, for an average of 2.58 goals per match.

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

References

  1. ^ a b c "CAF Women's Football Calendar 2023–2024" (PDF). CAF. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Draw announced for Women's Olympic Football Tournament Qualifiers". CAF. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Olympic Football Tournaments Paris 2024 – information on preliminary competitions" (PDF). FIFA Circular Letter. No. 1792. FIFA. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Suspension of the Zimbabwe Football Association as of 24 February 2022 and until further notice" (PDF). FIFA Circular. No. 1783. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  5. ^ "CAF launches new Women's Football season with Olympic football tournament Draw on Tuesday 30 May". CAF. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Women's Olympic Football Tournament Qualifiers Draw on Tuesday, Procedure announced". CAF. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  7. ^ a b "PROCEDURES OF THE DRAW OF THE QUALIFERS [sic] OF THE Women Olympic Football Tournament, Paris 2024" (PDF). CAF. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  8. ^ "FIFA Women's International Match Calendar 2023–2025" (PDF). FIFA. April 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Préparation JO Paris 2024 : Les Éléphantes Pour Deux Matchs Amicaux En Algérie". Facebook. Fédération Ivoirienne de Football. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Les Diables rouges dames ne participeront plus aux éliminatoires des Jeux Olympiques de Paris 2024". Instagram. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Paris 2024 Olympics African Women qualifiers get underway". cafonline.com. CAF. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  12. ^ a b Dube, Godfrey (7 October 2023). "Shepolopolo through to 3rd round of Women's Olympic Qualifiers after Mali pulls out". News Diggers!. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Communiqué" [Press release] (in French). 26 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.

External websites

CAF Women's Football