Women’s African Cup of Nation; Opening match Preview

The WAFCON start today with the opening match between The Atlas Lionesses of Morocco verse The Stallion of Burkina Faso at Prince Moulay Stadium in Rabat at 20:30 GMT.

This match will be played after the opening ceremony to kick start the three weeks of soccer fiesta in Morocco as the host nation; this is the first time a WAFCON tournament has been hosted in a North African country.

 The competition which started in 1991 has seen countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Namibia and Cameroon hosting it over the years.WAFCON which will start today and ends on 23rd July 2022 will use the VAR in all 28 matches.

The clash will also be the opening game for Group A which comprises the Host Morocco, Burkina Faso Women, Senegal Women and Uganda Women; The Group A first match between the Host and Burkina Faso will be officiated by Salima Rhadia Mukansanga from Rwanda 

The other two Groups are Group B which is made up of Cameroon, Zambia, Tunisia and Togo

And the Group C; Nigeria, South Africa, Burundi and Botswana.

The Moroccans are making their third appearance in the competition after a disappointing first two outings(1998 & 2000) and 22 years of absence from the WAFCON, they are hoping to host and win this 2022 edition. For this reason, they have acquired the servicing of former Coach of French league 1 Champion Lyon in the person of Coach Reynald Pedro. 

The Gaffer who got the job in 2020 has managed to turn the fortune of an average team into a formidable side to contend for this trophy.

Moroccan in preparation leading to this tournament won against the Moldova women 4-0, defeated Ghana black Queen 2-0 and drew both their matches against Ivory Coast and Zambia.

Even though the Moroccan started as favourite The Stallions led by Coach Pascal Sawadogo could cause an upset, in a press conference Coach Pascal stated that their group is very balance and his team will bleed to win, he added

The two teams drew in a friendly in 2017 at Sale 

Players to watch in this game are Tottenham’s Rosella Ayyane, Captian Ghizlane Chebbak, Ermichi Khadidja, Addi Nourimane and Salma Amani all from Morocco

Charlotte Millogo, Juliette Nana, and Limata Nikiema are key players to watch from the Stallions

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