Today in Cairo, Egypt, the draws for the FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers will take place, determining the opponents for Nigeria. These draws mark the beginning of the journey towards the two global women’s football events scheduled for 2024.
The U-17 Women’s World Cup will involve 25 nations, while the U-20 edition will feature 35 confirmed teams.
According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the qualifiers for both competitions will follow a home and away format. The U-17 first round will consist of two teams, determined based on their participation in the previous editions.
The second round will include the qualified teams from the first round, along with the 23
exempted teams. From the second round, 12 teams will advance to the third round, and the 12 qualified teams from the third round will produce six teams for the fourth and final
qualifying round. Ultimately, three teams will qualify for the U-17 Women’s World Cup from the fourth round.
The 25 countries participating in the U-17 draw include Nigeria, Algeria, Benin, Botswana,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, DR Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea,
Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, South
Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
For the U-20 qualifying competition, the first round will involve six teams determined by their participation in the previous U-20 Women’s World Cup editions. From there, three teams will progress to join the 29 exempted teams in the second round, which will produce 16 teams for the third round.
The third round will generate eight teams for the fourth round, which will further narrow down to four teams for the fifth round. Finally, the fifth round will determine then four teams for a play-off, deciding Africa’s two representatives at the U-20 Women’s World Cup.
The 35 teams participating in the U-20 draw include Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Benin,
Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Djibouti, Egypt,
Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Sao Tome, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
The draws today will set the stage for an exciting qualifying journey for these African nations, as they aim to secure a spot in the FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cup tournaments in 2024.
