Benin and Tanzania have completed the line-up for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ following an action-packed conclusion to African qualifying.
After suffering a 3-1 defeat in Yaoundé in the first leg, Tanzania needed to beat Cameroon by at least two goals to book their ticket to Poland — and everything went perfectly for Bakari Shime’s side in Zanzibar City.
Mary Aaron opened the scoring, and with Winfrida Gerald’s away goal in the first leg, the hosts needed just one more to take control of the tie, which came courtesy of Hasnath Ubamba 15 minutes from time. Tanzania eventually held on for victory and will now play at the U-20 finals for the first time.
Elsewhere, Benin secured their first-ever trip to a FIFA World Cup with a commanding 4-1 victory over Côte d’Ivoire following a 1-1 draw in the first leg.
Hosane Soukou calmly finished to open the scoring early on. African qualifying’s top scorer Romaine Gandonou then got on the scoresheet in the 34th minute, before Germaine Honfo raced on to a pass down the right and beat the goalkeeper to all-but end the contest. Grace N’dri pulled one back for Côte d’Ivoire, but Gandonou added the final touch to a perfect and historic afternoon with her 14th goal in qualifying.
With the conclusion of the CAF qualifiers, the line-up for the final tournament is now complete. As well as Benin and Tanzania, Ecuador, New Caledonia, Portugal and hosts Poland will also make their debuts in the competition. All 24 teams will discover their group-stage opponents at the Final Draw in Lodz on Friday 15 May.
