Football - CAF Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Qualifiers: Rwanda Drawn Against Neighbours Uganda

Rwanda Senior Women’s National Football team, have been drawn against neighbours Uganda in the CAF Women’s Olympics Football tournament qualifiers.

Among the entertaining matches lined up include a West African derby pitting Guinea and Ghana, while Uganda will take on Rwanda in an East African duel.

The final tournament will take place in Paris, France next year.

In the draws conducted on Tuesday afternoon in Cairo, Egypt, the Crested Cranes were pitted in Pot 4 comprising of CECAFA and COSAFA nations namely Mozambique, Namibia Tanzania and Ethiopia.

According to the draw format, teams in pot 4 had play face any of the nations from Pot 3 which compromised of teams from UNIFAC, COSAFA and CECAFA I.e Chad, Congo Brazaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Rwanda.

A total of 25 teams have entered the Olympic qualifying tournament, with 18 set to be involved in the first round. The remaining seven, headlined by champions South Africa are the highest ranked teams from last year’s TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) and will join the competition in the second round.

The nine winners from the first round will join the seven highest ranked teams for a second-round tie involving 16 teams. The eight winners progress to the third round, then the fourth round where the teams will be whittled to four.

Winners of the fourth round will qualify for the final tournament.

At the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Zambia represented Africa, and the She-polopolo will start their journey towards a possible back-to-back qualification in the second round.

The outcome of the draw between Rwanda against Uganda games will be played between 10th -18th July.

The winner on aggregate between Rwanda and Uganda will face Cameroon who are one of the seven teams that got a bye at this stage.

Only two teams from Africa will play at the final tournament in Paris, France.

First Round Fixtures:
Guinea Bissau vs Benin, Guinea vs Ghana, Burkina Faso vs Mali, Cote d’Ivoire vs Sierra Leone, Namibia vs Equatorial Guinea, Uganda vs Rwanda, Ethiopia vs Chad, Congo vs Tanzania, Mozambique vs DR Congo.

Second Round Fixtures:
Guinea Bissau/Benin vs Guinea/Ghana, Burkina Faso/Mali vs Zambia, Cote d’Ivoire/Sierra Leone vs Tunisia, Namivia/Equatorial Guinea vs Morocco, Uganda/Rwanda vs Cameroon, Ethiopia/Chad vs Nigeria, Congo/Tanzania vs Botswana, Mozambique/DR Congo vs South Africa.

Match Schedule
First round 10–18 July 2023

Second round 23–31 October 2023

Third round 19–28 February 2024

Fourth round 1–9 April 2024

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