Paris 2024Q: Black Queens to begin Olympics quest against Guinea [+THE PATH]

Ghana’s Black Queens will kick-start their campaign to qualify for the women’s football tournament at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics against West African neighbours Guinea.

The senior women’s national team – who were eliminated from the third round of the previous qualifiers – will start from scratch after failing to make the cut for a bye this term.

A live draw held in Cairo Tuesday morning revealed that 25 countries have subscribed to battle for Africa’s two slots for the women’s football tournament at the Paris Olympics scheduled for Friday, July 26 to Sunday, August 11, 2024.

Seven countries – South Africa, Morocco, Zambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Botswana and Tunisia – have been exempted from the first round of the qualifiers. They were determined according to the rankings of the last Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Eighteen teams will be involved in the first round with the qualified nine being joined by the 7 exempted to make 16 for the second round.

In other to qualify as Africa’s two representatives, a team will have to succeed in four rounds of the qualifying which will be played on a home-and-away basis.

The path – Black Queens

• First Round – July 10-18, 2023

Coach Nora Häuptle’s side will begin with a trip to Conakry for the first leg before completing the tie at home.

• Second Round – October 2023

The aggregate winner of the Ghana-Guinea tie takes on Guinea-Bissau or Benin.

• Third Round – February 19-28, 2024

The third round pairing could be Guinea-Bissau/Benin/Guinea/Ghana vs Burkina Faso/Mali/Zambia

• Fourth Round – April 1-9, 2024

Guinea-Bissau/Benin/Guinea/Ghana/Burkina Faso/Mali/Zambia vs Cote d’Ivoire/Sierra Leone/Tunisia/Namibia/Equatorial Guinea/Morocco

Paris 2024 – African qualifying campaigners (25):

Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia