WAFCON 2024: Ethiopia to kick off qualifying Campaign against Burundi

ADDIS ABABA – The Ethiopian Women’s national team, the Lucy’s, is set to face Burundi in the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) first-round qualifiers.

The draw was conducted in Morocco, Rabat, on Thursday. The qualifiers which involve a total of 42 nations will take the form of home and away, played over two rounds.

Ethiopia will kick off their campaign at home against Burundi before heading to fellow East African Nation for the second leg.

The winner will proceed to play the winner of the match between Uganda and Algeria in the second round.

Morocco by virtue of being hosts, will not engage in the qualifiers that are set for August this year.

Reigning champions, South Africa and third-place finishers, Zambia will only engage in the qualifiers during the second round, during which they respectively face winners of the Eswatini vs Burkina Faso, and Angola vs Sudan matches.

In other qualifying fixtures, Senegal will kick off their campaign against Mozambique while South Sudan were set up with a tie against Egypt.

Eleven-time African champions, Nigeria were drawn against Sao Tome and Principe. The DR Congo face Benin, with the winner facing either Equatorial Guinea or Libya in the next round.

Cape Verde have a tricky encounter against Liberia while Ghana take on Rwanda in what promises to be an epic duel. Togo, who are aiming for their second participation in the tournament must first overcome Djibouti.

Cameroon will take on Kenya, with the winner having to face the victor between Gabon and Botswana. Tunisia will play Niger with the winner setting up a match against the winner between Guinea Bissau and Congo in the second round.

The 11 winning teams will qualify for the final tournament in Morocco. Last year’s final was shown in over 85 countries globally – breaking new grounds for the event and the women’s game on the continent.