Who picks final ticket for Africa at the World Cup: Cameroon or Mali?

The curtain is will be drawn on the 11th biennial African Women’s Cup (AWCON) 2018, with Nigeria deservedly picking one of the three slots available for Africa at the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) Women’s World Cup in France 2019.

With the Bayana Bayana of South Africa also picking the second ticket, after beating Mali by 2:0 in the second semifinal game at the Cape Coast stadium, Coach Desiree Ellis’ lads are poised to make a mark at their maiden appearance at the world stage.

The final slot for Africa, which would be up for grasp on Friday 30th November, at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium, would see Cameroon as the huge favourites over Mali.

Cameroon, who were tipped as favourites for this tournament, has had a good tournament, though losing to Nigeria in the semifinals 2:4 on penalties, in a match that went into 120 minutes of action-packed play.

A look at how physical, the Cameroonians game against Nigeria went and considering the fact that the game went the extra time, gives a slight advantage to the Malian sides, who also can boost of flair and energy in their play.

Joseph Ndoko, coach for Cameroon has noted that, his team was heartbroken for failing to beat Nigeria, but would prepare well for the task ahead, in a bid to pick the final slot for the world cup in France, which would be a motivation for his team saying “we wanted to win, but we couldn’t, so we have to look ahead to qualify for the World Cup”.

With Mali, looking good with more attacking play with flair, they look ready to also pick the last slot available, which would also serve as a motivation and consolation for losing out to South Africa.

Placing second in a group that had countries like Nigeria, Algeria and the host country Ghana, the Female Eagles are up to the task to cause an upset to Cameroon, who are brimming with confidence taking into consideration the style of play and quality of players at their disposal.

The Female Eagles, who are currently ranked 86th in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings and having made a total of six appearances in the Africa Women Cup of Nations since the 2002, have never reached the knock-out stage and have also never qualified for a FIFA Women’s World Cup yet , but are determined to make it along with South Africa as their maiden editions.

With maiden qualification on the mind of the Female Eagles, the Cape Coast Sports Stadium would be the venue of attraction on Friday 30th November 2018 at 16:00 hours GMT.