WAFCON group stage: Morocco and South Africa through, Nigeria and Zambia set up showdown

Quarter-finals take shape after entertaining opening to tournament sees favourites safely progress

Hosts Morocco are through to the WAFCON quarter-finals. Credit: Confederation of African Football.

After 10 days of entertaining action, the group stage of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations has drawn to a close. Eight of the 12 teams remain in the tournament as we head into the quarter-finals, where some big clashes await.

Here are all the big stories from the group stage…

Group A: Hosts and favourites advance

Morocco and Zambia kicked off the tournament with some fireworks on a Saturday night in Rabat. Just seconds after kick-off, the visitors’ star forward Barbra Banda picked the ball up on the halfway line, drove at the Moroccan defence and squeezed her finish past Khadija Er-Rmichi’s sub-par attempted save to open the scoring.

Zambia’s attack was always likely to be formidable, so it was their defence that was to come under more scrutiny. They conceded an equaliser from the penalty spot but were back in the lead prior to the half-hour mark as Banda found fellow NWSL forward Racheal Kundananji with a lovely through-ball. Zambia looked on course to see out a win, but Moroccan captain Ghizlane Chebbak had other ideas as she picked out the top corner from outside the box in the 87th minute to earn a point for her side.

The following day, Senegal took on Democratic Republic of Congo in what was expected to be a critical fixture in the battle for third place. The DRC were missing their key player, Paris Saint-Germain forward Merveille Kanjinga, due to suspension rules which saw match bans carried over from the qualifiers. In truth, though, it was their shambolic defending, particularly a high line, that cost them as they ended up losing 4-0.