Algeria, Morocco, Cameroon and Malawi have secured places at the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil after reaching the semi-finals of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon).
The tournament in Morocco is also serving as Africa’s qualifying competition for next summer’s World Cup. Any team reaching the last four automatically earns a place at the finals.
Algeria will appear at a Women’s World Cup for the first time after recovering from a goal down to beat 10-player Ivory Coast 2-1.
Ivory Coast took the lead before N’Sira Oudraogo was sent off. Algeria then turned the match around through goals from Ines Khiri and Amira Ould Braham to reach the semi-finals and secure qualification.
Hosts Morocco also came from behind to overcome South Africa 2-1. Sakina Ouzraoui Diki and Hanane Ait El Haj scored the goals that sent Morocco through and confirmed their place at next year’s global tournament.
Cameroon completed a 1-0 victory over Nigeria, with 19-year-old Myriam Nyadjou producing a spectacular 30-yard free-kick to decide the match.
The biggest surprise came in the other quarter-final, as Malawi, ranked 153rd in the world, defeated Ghana 2-1.
Ghana went ahead, but Malawi responded with goals from Temwa Chawinga and Rose Kadzere to complete a major upset and claim the fourth World Cup qualifying place available through the Wafcon semi-finals.
The semi-finals will be played on Wednesday. Morocco will meet Cameroon before Algeria face Malawi.
More African qualification places available
The four teams eliminated in the quarter-finals Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Africa still have a route to the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Ivory Coast will play Ghana on Thursday, while Nigeria face South Africa. The two winners will advance to a 10-nation intercontinental play-off competition taking place in November and December.
Three of the 10 teams involved in those play-offs will qualify for the World Cup, which begins on 24 June and runs until 25 July.
European qualification remains undecided, with England, Republic of Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all still competing for places through the European play-offs.
Each of those five teams would have to win two two-legged ties to qualify for the tournament in Brazil.
The 2027 Women’s World Cup will feature 32 nations. Eighteen places have now been confirmed.
Algeria, Cameroon, Malawi and Morocco are the qualified African teams. Australia, China, Japan, North Korea, Philippines and South Korea have qualified from Asia.
Denmark, France, Germany and Spain are the confirmed European qualifiers, while New Zealand have secured Oceania’s place.
In South America, Argentina, Colombia and hosts Brazil have qualified.
