As Scorpion girls take on Namibia
After qualifying for the men’s Africa Cup of Nations, the Gambian football authorities are hell bent on getting the women national team too to the women’s tournament next year in Morocco.
To get there, the Scorpion girls must first eliminate Namibia in a two-legged tie opening today in Rabat, Morocco where both nations opted to play their respective home legs.
Tonight, is Gambia’s home match kicking off at 5pm.
The Gambia Football Federation has appointed a new coach for the team Yaya Manneh who will today guide the team against Namibia.
At the beginning of the week, he unveiled his list of players for the campaign and immediately flew with them to Rabat.
He has also invited a handful of players based abroad.
They include of Ruggy Joof, Mbassey Darboe and Cathrine Jatta (from Determine Girls of Liberia as well as Isatou Jallow and Matty Manga (from Bayelsa Queens in Nigera).
The return leg will be on Monday at the same venue. The winner of the tie will progress to play in the second and final round of qualifiers on two- legged tie.
For the 2024 edition, 40 Nations will enter the qualifying stages. In the first qualifying round, teams will play two matches against each other. The winner of the two matches will qualify for the second round, scheduled for November 2023.
In this stage of the qualification phase, two countries will be exempted. They are South Africa and Zambia, respectively reigning African champions and bronze medallists.
Qualifiers Schedule
First Round: 20 – 26 September 2023
Second Round: 27 November – 05 December 2023
First-Round Fixtures
o 22.09.2023: Senegal – Mozambique | 17h00 GMT – Thies/Stade lat-Dior
o 20.09.2023: Egypt – South Sudan | 16h00 GMT – Petro Sports Stadium, Cairo
o 22.09.2023: Central African Republic – Mali | 13h00 GMT – Stade de la Reunification de Douala
o 21.09.2023: Guinea – Mauritius | 15h00 GMT – Stade General Lansana Conte, Nongo
o 22.09.2023: Nigeria – São Tomé and Príncipe (Match cancelled due to withdrawal of Soe Tome. Nigeria qualifies for next round)
o 22.09.2023: Cape Verde – Liberia | 17h00 GMT – Estadio Nacional “Blue Shark” Cabo Verde
o 20.09.2023: Uganda – Algeria | 15h00 GMT – FUFA Technical Centre, Jinja
o 22.09.2023: Burundi – Ethiopia | 14h00 GMT – Abebe Bekila Stadium, Addis Ababa
o 22.09.2023: Equatorial Guinea – Libya (Match cancelled due to withdrawal of Libya. Equatorial Guinea qualifies for the next round)
o 22.09.2023: DR Congo – Benin | 14h30 GMT – Complexe Omnisports Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa
o 22.09.2023: Cote d’Ivoire – Tanzania | 15h30 GMT – Stade de Yamoussoukro, Yamoussoukro
o 22.09.2023: Djibouti – Togo | 14h30 GMT – Stade de Kegue de Lome, Lome
o 20.09.2023: Rwanda – Ghana | 13h00 GMT – Kigali Pele Stadium, Kigali
o 21.09.2023: Gambia – Namibia | 15h00 GMT Stade El Abdi, El Jadida
o 22.09.2023: Cameroon – Kenya | 18h00 GMT Stade de la Reunification de Douala, Douala
o 22.09.2023: Gabon – Botswana | 14h30 GMT – Stade de la Renovation de Franceville
o 21.09.2023: Tunisia – Niger | 15h00 GMT – Stade de Solimane, Solimane
o 21.09.2023: Guinea Bissau – Congo | 15h30 – Estadio 24 de Setembro, Bissau
o 25.09.2023: Angola – Sudan (Match cancelled due to withdrawal of Sudan. Angola qualifies for the next round)
o 20.09.2023 Eswatini – Burkina Faso | 14h00 GMT – Somhlolo National Stadium, Lobamba
Women’s AFCON Prize money:
