Africa-Press – Eswatini. It’s a tough route for Eswatini’s senior women’s national soccer team Sitsebe to the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) 2024 finals in Morocco.
Despite that it looks easy to qualify given its only two matches before being one of the 12 teams to play the WAFCON finals 2024 in Morocco, Eswatini were handed a tough draw as they will open against Burkina Faso in a two-legged preliminary qualifier before yet another tough hurdle against the shining Banyana Banyana of South Africa (SA).
Draw
This starts in September this year, following the draw by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday in Rabat, Morocco. The Simephi Mamba-coached Sitsebe will host Burkina Faso in the first leg of their encounter. The Les Etalons, as Burkina Faso ladies squad is nicknamed, are ranked 141 out of 188 nations in the latest FIFA world rankings, while Sitsebe are ranked 173rd in the world and 41 out of 46 in Africa.
The first round of the qualifier matches will take place between September 18 and October 5, with the second leg to be played away. The winner between these two teams will face a tough test against defending champions SA.
Banyana Banyana, were exempted from the first round matches along with hosts Morocco and 2022 WAFCON bronze medallists Zambia.
Meanwhile, Sitsebe coach lamented the difficult draw and said they needed to prepare well for the matches. “They are tough opponents, which require us to up our level of preparations. If you see that some of the possible opponents are already playing in the World Cup, you can imagine the gap. We need to play some international friendly matches that could help us match their level and we believe that the upcoming COSAFA tournament will also help us gauge ourselves going to these games,” she said.
Aiming
Notably, Eswatini will be aiming to qualify for their first-ever WAFCON finals, while Burkina Faso will be hoping to make their second appearance. However, SA is not an easy hurdle to overcome, as they are the second best team in the continent and are set to participate in the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year. Only the winners of the second round will secure their tickets to the WAFCON finals in Rabat next year.
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