The Uganda women’s national football team beat Rwanda 1-0 on Sunday to advance to the next round of competitions for 2024.
After settling for a 3-3 draw in the first leg played last Wednesday in Kigali, both Rwanda and Uganda came all out over the weekend for a win at the Kigali Pele Stadium.
After a goalless 90 minutes substitute Fazila Ikwaput was the player of the day after scoring the decisive goal for the Crested Cranes after 100 minutes.
The She Cranes qualified on a 4-3 aggregate score.
Both legs were played in Rwanda due to the fact that Uganda does not have a stadium that meets CAF standards.
The Ethiopian team defeated Chad 4-0 in the second leg clash at Abebe Stadium in Addis Ababa to qualify on an aggregate score of 10.
Skipper and Ethiopia’s Women’s Player of the Year Loza Abera gave Ethiopia the lead after 11 minutes. Senaf Wakuma netted a brace to make it 3-0 at half time. Turist Lena made it 4-0 for Ethiopia after 89 minutes.
Uganda Crested Cranes will now face Cameroon in the second round, while Ethiopia battle Nigeria.
Tanzania, who got a walkover in the first round, will face Botswana. The second round matches will be played in October 23-31st, 2023.
A total of 25 African teams entered the Paris Olympic Games qualifier tournament, with 18 battling in the first round and the remaining seven highly ranked teams joining in the second round.
The eight winners of the second round will progress to the third round, then to the fourth round. In this round, the teams will be whittled down to four. Winners of the fourth round will qualify for the final tournament.