2023 WAFU Zone A Women's Cup

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2023 WAFU Zone A Women's Cup
2023 UFOA Zona A Copa Feminina
Tournament details
Host country Cape Verde
CityEspargos
Dates20 January – 1 February 2023
Teams7 (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Senegal (2nd title)
Runners-up Cape Verde
Third place Gambia
Fourth place Guinea-Bissau
Tournament statistics
Matches played13
Goals scored44 (3.38 per match)
Top scorer(s)Senegal Hapsatou Malado Diallo
(9 goals)
Best player(s)Cape Verde Ivânia Moreira
Best goalkeeperSenegal Tening Séné
Fair play award Guinea-Bissau
← 2020

The 2023 WAFU Zone A Women's Cup was the second edition of the WAFU Zone A Women's Cup, an international women's football tournament contested by the women's national association football teams of West Africa zone A organized by the West African Football Union (WAFU). The tournament was hosted by Cape Verde and took place from 20 to 29 January 2023;[1][2] it was the first major WAFU A tournament to be hosted in Cape Verde. The opening match was contested between Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau at Estádio Marcelo Leitão, Espargos, Sal Island on 20 January 2023. The final took place on 29 January 2023 at Estádio Marcelo Leitão, Espargos.

Senegal is the defending champions, having won the previous tournament. and they successfully defended their title beating hosts Cape Verde 1–0 with a penalty kick scored by Senegalese captain Korka Fall.[3][4][5]

Participating nations[edit]

The WAFU Zone A initially announced on 5 January 2023 that 9 countries would participate in the tournament, a record number with all WAFU Zone A members association sending teams. Mauritania marked their debut in the tournament after its absence from the 2020 edition.[6]

On 10 January 2022, Liberia confirmed its non-participation in the tournament citing a lack of funding from the government, thereby reducing the number of participating countries to 8.[7] Two days prior to the tournament start Mali's sports minister confirmed that its country won't be able to participate in the 2nd edition of the tournament citing funding issues as the main reason for their withdrawal.[8]

Team Appearance Previous best performance FIFA ranking
December 2022
 Cape Verde 2nd Fourth Place (2020)
NR
 Gambia 2nd Group Stage (2020)
123
 Guinea 2nd Group Stage (2020)
136
 Guinea-Bissau 2nd Group Stage (2020)
171
 Mauritania 1st —
NR
 Senegal 2nd Champions (2020)
84
 Sierra Leone 2nd Group Stage (2020)
138
Did not enter

Venues[edit]

After the successful hosting of the 2021 CAF Women's Champions League WAFU A Qualifiers in Mindelo and the 2023 WAFU Zone A Schools Football Championship in Santa Cruz, the Cape Verdean Football Federation announced that this time it would host the tournament in Sal. the FCF selected the biggest stadium in Sal to host the tournament.

Sal Island
2023 WAFU Zone A Women's Cup (Cape Verde)
Estádio Marcelo Leitão
Capacity: 8,000
Marcelo leitao.jpg

Officials[edit]

these officials were appointed by WAFU A to officiate the tournament.

Referees
  • Burundi Suavis Iratunga
  • The Gambia Ngum Fatou
  • Liberia Sylvina Garnett Welma
  • Mauritania Yacine Samassa
  • Mali Aissata Diarra
  • Senegal Maimouna Danfakha
Assistant referees
  • Cape Verde Evandra Furtado da Costa Lima
  • The Gambia Jainaba Manneh
  • Liberia Hannah Moses
  • Mauritania Houleye Diba
  • Mali Mariam Coulibaly
  • Senegal Tabara Mbodji
  • Sierra Leone Precious Amara

Draw[edit]

The draw for the final tournament was held on 19 January 2023, on the island of Sal. the 7 teams were drawn into two groups one with four teams with the other group with three teams.[9]

the seven teams were allocated into two pots based on the FIFA Women's World Rankings of 9 December 2022. Pot 1 contained hosts Cape Verde (who were automatically assigned to position A1) and Senegal (who were automatically assigned to position B1). Pot 2 contained the rest of the teams.

From the December 2022 FIFA World Rankings[10]
Pot 1 Pot 2

 Cape Verde (NR) (hosts)
 Senegal (84) (title holders)

 Gambia (123)
 Guinea (136)
 Sierra Leone (138)
 Guinea-Bissau (171)
 Mauritania (NR)

Squads[edit]

Main article: 2023 WAFU Zone A Women's Cup squads

Each team was required by WAFU-UFOA to name a squad of a minimum of 20 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers).

Group stage[edit]

Teams in each group will play one another in a round-robin, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage.

Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 71):[citation needed]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Drawing of lots.

All times are in CVT (UTC-1).

Group A[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Cape Verde (H) 2 2 0 0 10 0 +10 6 Knockout stage
2  Guinea-Bissau 2 1 0 1 1 4 −3 3
3  Mauritania 2 0 0 2 0 7 −7 0
First match(es) will be played: 20 January 2023. Source: WAFU A
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Cape Verde 4–0 Guinea-Bissau
 Report (FCF)
Report (CAF)
Report (WAFU A)
Referee: Ngum Fatou (Gambia)
Guinea-Bissau 1–0 Mauritania
Paulo Mendes 55' Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)
Referee: Maimouna Danfakha (Senegal)
Mauritania 0–6 Cape Verde
Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)
Referee: Ngum Fatou (Gambia)

Group B[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Senegal 3 3 0 0 12 1 +11 9 Knockout stage
2  Gambia 3 2 0 1 6 5 +1 6
3  Guinea 3 1 0 2 1 5 −4 3
4  Sierra Leone 3 0 0 3 1 9 −8 0
First match(es) will be played: 20 January 2023. Source: WAFU A
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Senegal 4–0 Guinea
 Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)
Sierra Leone 1–4 Gambia
Kabba 62' Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)		 Jatta 2', 20', 56', 72'
Referee: Sylvina Garnett (Liberia)
Guinea 1–0 Sierra Leone
Diallo 86' Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)
Referee: Yacine Samassa (Mauritania)
Gambia 1–4 Senegal
Jatta 45+3' (pen.) Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)		 Diallo 2', 49', 71', 83'
Referee: Sylvina Garnett (Liberia)
Guinea 0–1 Gambia
Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)		 Jatta 75'
Sierra Leone 0–4 Senegal
Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)
Referee: Yacine Samassa (Mauritania)

Knockout stage[edit]

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
27 January – Estádio Marcelo Leitão
 
 
 Cape Verde2
 
29 January – Estádio Marcelo Leitão
 
 Gambia1
 
 Cape Verde0
 
27 January – Estádio Marcelo Leitão
 
 Senegal1
 
 Senegal4
 
 
 Guinea-Bissau0
 
Third Place
 
 
29 January – Estádio Marcelo Leitão
 
 
 Gambia3
 
 
 Guinea-Bissau2

Semi-finals[edit]

Senegal 4–0 Guinea-Bissau
 Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)
Referee: Aissata Diarra (Mali)

Third-place match[edit]

Gambia 3–2 Guinea-Bissau
 Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)

Final[edit]

Cape Verde 0–1 Senegal
Report (FCF)
Report (WAFU A)
Referee: Sylvina Garnett (Liberia)

Statistics[edit]

Goalscorers[edit]

There were 44 goals scored in 13 matches, for an average of 3.38 goals per match.

9 goals

7 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Discipline[edit]

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:

  • Receiving a red card (red card suspensions may be extended for serious offences)
  • Receiving two yellow cards in two matches; yellow cards expire after the completion of the quarter-finals (yellow card suspensions are not carried forward to any other future international matches)

The following suspensions were served during the tournament:

Player Offence(s) Suspension
Mauritania Funmilayo Adiara Adebisi Yellow card Yellow-red card in Group A vs Guinea-Bissau (matchday 2; 22 January) Group A vs Cape Verde (matchday 3; 24 January)

Final ranking[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1  Senegal 5 5 0 0 17 1 +16 15 Champions
2  Cape Verde 4 3 0 1 12 2 +10 9 Runners-up
3  Gambia 5 3 0 2 10 9 +1 9 Third place
4  Guinea-Bissau 4 1 0 3 3 11 −8 3 Fourth place
5  Guinea 3 1 0 2 1 5 −4 3 Eliminated in
group stage
6  Mauritania 2 0 0 2 0 7 −7 0
7  Sierra Leone 3 0 0 3 1 9 −8 0
Source: [ WAFU A]

Controversies[edit]

Liberia withdrawal[edit]

Liberia's withdrawal from the competition after initially confirming its participation sparked high criticism among Liberians at home, especially Liberia women's National team players who showed a huge disappointment in the government and in the Liberian Football Association. Liberia's women's team's former captain Bantu Jestina Wilson stated that she felt frustrated and disappointed and that there was no lack of funding because the Ministry of youth and sports never supported the team or the women's football in the first place.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Cape Verde hosts Union of West African Federations Cup". platinumnewsng.com. 16 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Sal to host WAFU-A Women's Championship". zoneouesta.org. 5 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Tournoi UFOA A (F) : Deux sur deux pour le Sénégal". africafootunited.com (in French). Sédric Maurace ASSOGBA. 30 January 2023.
  4. ^ "WAFU/A Tournament: The Lionesses defeat Cape Verde in the final and snatch the trophy with panache". wiwsport.com (in French). 29 January 2023.
  5. ^ "WAFU-A Tournament (W): Sacred Senegal". sportnewsafrica.com (in French). 29 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Cape Verde once again receives a test from UFOA zone A". fcf.cv (in Portuguese). 3 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Liberia Will Not Officially Participate in the 2023 WAFU Women's Tournament". liberianobserver.com. 5 January 2023.
  8. ^ "UFOA A (W): Mali will not participate". sportnewsafrica.com (in French). 5 January 2023.
  9. ^ "WAFU women's football: The tournament schedule is now known!". zoneouesta.org (in French). WAFU A. 19 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  10. ^ "FIFA Women's World Rankings". FIFA. 9 December 2022.
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