The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup commenced last week all but one of the first round of group games being played in the last three days.
Four countries from the African continent compete with their performance from the last edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
South Africa, Morocco, Zambia and Nigeria are Africa’s representatives at the Mundial.
However, none of them was able to record a win in the first round of matches with South Africa the only one to score a goal so far,
Nigeria salvaged a point against Canada in their first game at the competition with their goalkeeper putting up a historic performance including a penalty save. Their goalless result demonstrated a remarkable defensive effort, but it also emphasised the difficulty in creating scoring chances against better opponents.
Zambia suffered a 5-0 defeat against a tough Japanese team on Saturday. The game was a true telling of the difference in quality between the African game and the developed football nations as far as the women’s game is concerned. Despite their best efforts, Zambia were unable to restrict their opponents’ attacking power.
Having won the WAFCON, Bayana Bayana were one of the brightest teams to watch from the African continent t and the performance against Sweden, but for the late goal, was one that would have been a commendable effort. South Africa suffered a 2-1 loss to Sweden which added to the woes of the African side in the tournament. However, the fact they scored a goal makes them stand out.
Morocco became the latest team to suffer a drubbing. The debutants were treated to a 6-0 battering at the hands of Japan earlier Monday. Making their first appearance on the world stage, the North Africans were expected to put up a fight but the performance against Japan was far from a fight and needs improvement heading into the next round.
In the second round of games, Nigeria will face one of the hosts, Australia in Group B while South Africa will play as the visiting team against Argentina.
Zambia have Spain on their necks while Morocco will also be up against South Korea.