Nigeria has qualified for the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations after defeating Ivory Coast 1-0 in the second leg of the final qualifying fixture on Wednesday.
Randy Waldrum’s ladies advanced with a 3-0 aggregate result after a 2-0 win at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium last week, thanks to Ifeoma Onumonu’s brace.
It was a cagey outing at the Stade Robert Champroux but the Super Falcons waited until the 87th minute to break the deadlock and goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie stood out for the visitors with her brilliant saves to keep another clean sheet.
Just before half-time in Abidjan, the 21-year-old saved a penalty to keep both teams level and she was called to action later in the second 45 minutes.
The Lady Elephants, on the other hand, were solid in the defence but lacked the finishing touch to beat Nnadozie.
The Super Falcons kept pushing for a goal and they finally got the breakthrough with three minutes left on the clock via Esther Okoronkwo’s strike.
Nigeria now has the chance to extend their dominance as the most successful country in the women’s showpiece when they join 11 other countries in Morocco later in July.
Earlier on their road to Morocco, the Super Falcons defeated Ghana 2-1 on aggregate before they faced the Ivorians who thrashed Niger Republic 20-0 on aggregate.
Also, Shepolopolo Zambia on Tuesday secured their qualification for the 2022 Women’s AFCON on away goals rule after drawing 1-1 away to Namibia at Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg.
Zambia sailed through by the same aggregate scoreline after drawing 0-0 in the first leg played at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka on February 16.
Just like in the first leg, Zambia showed very little initiative in attack and it was Namibia took the lead in the 10th minute through Emma Narris.
From then on, it was an evenly balanced contest but Zambia continued to exhibit very little creativity going forward well into hour-mark.
The best Shepolopolo could produce was through the wing play of Martha Tembo but her long balls into the box did not match the quality with which they were delivered.
Relief for Zambia came in the 70th minute when Under-20 striker Xiomara Mapepa fired in the ball from close-range.
Shepolopolo then had goalkeeper Hazel Nali to thank in the 75th minute when she denied Memory Ngonda from close-range as Zambia toiled until the final whistle to book their ticket to Morocco.
Meanwhile, Shepolopolo also made history on Tuesday when they secured back-to-back Women’s AFCON qualification for the first time-ever.
Furthermore, this is coach Bruce Mwape’s third straight tournament qualification success after the 2018 Women’s AFCON and the 2020 Olympics.
Other countries that have qualified for the tournament so far include host nation Morocco, Uganda, Burundi, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Burkina Faso and Cameroon.