The Black Queens of Ghana will face arch rivals Nigeria in the first round of the qualifying series for the 2022 Total Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco.
The two African Women’s football giants were paired against each other following the draw at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday.
A record number of 45 member associations are set to take part in the qualifiers.
With the qualifying series divided into zones, one of Nigeria or Ghana, who are both housed in WAFU Zone B, will miss out in the tournament next year.
Both have traditionally participated in each of the CAF Women’s AFCON tournaments since the inaugural edition in 1991.
Nigeria are the defending champions while Ghana hosted the tournament in 2018.
The winner of the first round tie between Nigeria and Ghana will face Niger or Cote d’Ivoire in the second round.
Morocco, who are the host country have automatically qualified and as a result, 44 countries will take part in the qualifiers.
This will be the first edition under the format of 12 teams.
The qualifying series will start during the international window of June 2021 and end before the final tournament in Morocco scheduled from July 2 to 23, 2022.
The Total Women’s AFCON is also a qualifier for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023.
The #TotalAWCONQ2022 results are out! 💪
Bring the action! 🔥⚽️#ItsTimeItsNow pic.twitter.com/6E7Ras5Loi
— CAF Women’s Football (@CAFwomen) May 10, 2021
First round
M1 – Uganda v Ethiopia
M2 – Kenya v South Sudan
M3 – Eritrea v Burundi
M4 – Djibouti v Rwanda
M5 – Malawi v Zambia
M6 – Tanzania v Namibia
M7 – Zimbabwe v Eswatini
M8 – Angola v Botswana
M9 – Mozambique v South Africa
M10 – Algeria v Sudan
M11 – Egypt v Tunisia
M12 – Equatorial Guinea v DR Congo
M13 – Sao Tome and Principe v Togo
M14 – Congo v Gabon
M15 – Central African Republic v Cameroon
M16 – Sierra Leone v Gambia
M17 – Liberia v Senegal
M18 – Mali v Guinea
M19 – Guinea Bissau v Mauritania
M20 – Burkina Faso v Benin
M21 – Nigeria v Ghana
M22 – Niger v Cote d’Ivoire
Second Round
Winner M1 v Winner M2
Winner M3 v Winner M4
Winner M5 v Winner M6
Winner M7 v Winner M8
Winner M9 v Winner M10
Winner M11 v Winner M12
Winner M13 v Winner M14
Winner M15 v Winner M16
Winner M17 v Winner M18
Winner M19 v Winner M20
Winner M21 v Winner M22
Aggregate winners qualify to join hosts Morocco in the final tournament.
