Hosts Morocco kick off their TotalEnergies CAF Ladies’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) marketing campaign towards Zambia on the Olympic Stadium in Rabat on 5 July, with kick-off scheduled for 21:00 native time (20:00 GMT).
Traditionally, event hosts have loved robust begins. Throughout the earlier 12 editions of WAFCON, hosts have gained their opening match on 11 events. The one exception was South Africa in 2004, who suffered a 3-0 defeat to Ghana.
9 of these 12 opening matches noticed the hosts maintain a clear sheet. The one occasions they conceded had been in South Africa’s 2004 loss and Nigeria’s 4-2 win over Equatorial Guinea in 2006. South Africa’s 2-1 victory over Tanzania in 2010 is the one host opening win the place they conceded.
The largest win by a number of their opening match was Nigeria’s emphatic 8-0 thrashing of Morocco in 1998.
Since South Africa’s loss in 2004, every of the final eight hosts has gained their opening match. Moreover, since 2010, the final six hosts have began their campaigns with a clear sheet.
Hosts have gone on to achieve the ultimate on eight events. Nigeria gained on house soil in 1998, 2002, and 2006, whereas Equatorial Guinea triumphed in 2008 and 2012. Extra not too long ago, Cameroon (2016) and Morocco (2022) reached the ultimate however misplaced, as did South Africa in 2000.
Head-to-Head: Morocco vs Zambia
This would be the first assembly between Morocco and Zambia at WAFCON.
Each side reached the semi-finals within the earlier version in 2022, additionally hosted by Morocco. The hosts completed runners-up, whereas Zambia claimed bronze after beating Nigeria within the third-place match.
Will probably be Morocco’s third encounter with a Southern African nation on the event. In 2022, they beat Botswana 2-1 within the quarterfinals earlier than shedding 2-1 to South Africa within the closing.
For Zambia, this can be their second time going through a number nation at WAFCON; in 2014, they misplaced 2-0 to Namibia within the group stage. Additionally it is their second conflict towards a North African side–at the 2022 finals, they beat Tunisia 1-0 within the group stage.
Morocco will once more play all group matches in Rabat. In 2022, they performed all six of their video games on the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, close to the Rabat Olympic Stadium. Zambia performed just one match in Rabat in 2022–a 4-1 win over Togo at Stade Moulay Hassan–with their remaining matches held in Casablanca.
Apparently, the 2 present head coaches, Jorge Vilda (Morocco) and Nora Häuptle (Zambia), beforehand met on the 2018 UEFA Ladies’s U-19 Championship. Vilda’s Spain beat Häuptle’s Switzerland 2-0 in Zug. Spain went on to win the event.
Morocco: Key Info & Stats
· Morocco return as hosts and runners-up from 2022, their greatest end so far.
· That is their fourth look at WAFCON, having beforehand featured in 1998 and 2000, the place they exited on the group stage.
· Between 1998 and 2000, they gained simply as soon as in six matches (vs Egypt in 1998).
· Their total WAFCON document stands at: P12 W5 D2 L5.
· They’ve solely drawn twice: 0-0 vs DR Congo in 1998 and 1-1 vs Nigeria within the 2022 semi-final (gained on penalties).
· Their solely clear sheets got here in a 0-0 draw (1998), and 1-0 wins over Burkina Faso and Senegal (2022).
· They’ve scored 14 objectives and conceded 27 throughout 12 matches.
· Morocco’s greatest win was 4-1 vs Egypt (1998). Different wins have been by one- or two-goal margins.
· Ghizlane Chebbak scored three objectives in 2022, essentially the most by a Moroccan at a single version, netting in all three group video games.
· Head coach Jorge Vilda led Spain to the 2023 FIFA Ladies’s World Cup title and in addition oversaw a 5-0 group-stage win over Zambia in that event.
· Vilda has beforehand coached Spain to U-17 and U-19 European Championship titles.
Zambia: Key Info & Stats
· Zambia are showing of their fourth WAFCON after qualifying in 2014, 2018, 2022, and now 2024.
· Their greatest end was third place in 2022, beating Nigeria within the bronze-medal match.
· Opening match document: P3 W1 D1 L1. Their solely loss got here to Namibia in 2014.
· They went winless in 2014 however have improved steadily since.
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· Zambia are unbeaten in six of their final seven WAFCON matches (W3 D3 L1), the only real loss coming within the 2022 semi-finals to South Africa.
· Commonest ends in their WAFCON historical past are 1-0 and 1-1 (three matches every).
· Their greatest win got here in 2018: a 5-0 victory over Equatorial Guinea, the place Mary Mwakapila scored and assisted–the first Zambian to take action in a WAFCON match.
· Racheal Kundananji scored three objectives on the 2018 finals–the most by a Zambian in a single edition–and matched that whole within the 2024 qualifiers towards Angola.
· Zambia certified for this version with a dominant 12-0 mixture win over Angola within the second spherical, together with a Barbara Banda hat-trick within the first leg.
· Banda, Africa’s high Olympic Video games scorer (male or feminine), is making her WAFCON debut after lacking the 2022 version.
· Head coach Nora Häuptle is the primary lady and first international coach to guide Zambia at WAFCON. She beforehand coached Ghana’s ladies’s crew, serving to them qualify for this event.
