Wafcon 2024: It can be a championship in Morocco almost the best so far

Three years ago, the world welcomed African women’s football with roar. Nearly 60,000 Moroccans were pressed by Moulay Abdullah 53,000 seats in Rabat to watch the national team for women in the first African Nations Cup of Nations (Wafcon).

Morocco lost 2-1 at night against South Africa after a weakness from Hilda Magaia, but the genie was outside the bottle. African women’s football was here to stay.

On Saturday, Wafcon returns to Morocco, where the hosts started championship 12 teams against Zambia. But the football scene is almost not recognized from that tournament three years ago.

Since that final in 2022, football in the continent has moved from strength to strength. Morocco and South Africa are happy in the World Cup in 2023, as it came out of the group before Germany and Italy, respectively. Meanwhile, both Zambia Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji scored both Zambia, who won their first points in the World Cup.

Although all the three parties were suspended, as the super hawks in Nigeria – which suffers from the first and the first without the Midal – overcame the Australian hosts before taking England to the sanctions in the 16th round.

As the last WAFCON, Banda, Kundananji and Nigeria joined him, others have championships and clubs in Europe, such as Asfar Rabat and Mamelodi Sundowns, pushed football borders at CAF club.

However, despite the steps, this tournament was only a smooth journey. After a year after the date was originally set, Wafcon 2024 officially called, it never happened. Here is what you need to know about this summer tournament …

Why is 2024 Wafcon happen in 2025?

A month after the latest version of Wafcon, Morocco was announced as hosts of the 2024 version. The winning situation was.

Morocco, in its attempt to become the home of football in Africa, will have the eyes of the world on it in addition to giving the national team for women, Asad Atlas, another snapshot to win the championship on the homeland. As for the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the governing body in Africa, it was not reasonable that Morocco was also ready to take over the financial burden of the championship that traditionally struggled to find a house.

After canceling the 2020 version due to the Covid-19, CAF granted the 2022 competition to Morocco and decided to transfer the championship from the traditional opening in November to June to July to try to comply with the European summer, as it was with AFCON for men.

Change the championship to the summer caused a set of scheduling issues. With the qualifiers of both Zambia and Nigeria at the Paris Olympics, CAF decided that it could not host Wafcon in the same summer.

With the passage of 2024 without any CAF news, fears that the tournament will be completely canceled in appearing.

Finally, on June 21, 2024, just two weeks before the tournament at first aimed at starting, CAF announced that it would happen in July.

It was annoying to preparations. Noura Hobtel, the Swiss coach, who was held in Ghana’s return to the continental theater for the first time in six years, was assumed to take over the black Quinz in Wafcon. But with the end of her contract at the end of 2024, Ghana left before the seizure of copper Zambia queens before the tournament.

The contract has run out of the Paniana Paniana Championship, Desirrier Elis, the same last year and has not yet been renewed. Defending the title against Ghana without a contract with the Football Association in South Africa.

The insecurity was not easy for the players either.

“I really didn’t know that they would do this this summer,” said Super Falcons Ashleight Plumptre, a former youth in England.

“I was a little more curious,” when will they fit? “Because it is clear that there will be wafcon next year.”

Although the release of men from the championship, which begins in December in the same country, had a full agenda and playgrounds in January, women’s game lovers had to wait until May 29 to find out where and when their teams would play, just five weeks before the opening match.

“It is a shameful matter that the promotion of the euro is huge (compared to Wafcon),” says Blimeter.

“Months and months have passed, and for us, accumulation is now just around the corner than Wafcon.”

In addition, with the renewal of all the three stadiums used in the year 2022 that was renewed for the men’s championship, rather than playing in the largest stadiums in Morocco in Casablanca and Rabat, Wafcon is hosted in three reasons smaller than two cities, as well as in the two cities of a country.

When Morocco begins the championship at the end of this week, instead of re -creating the loud atmosphere they saw in the final, which was attended by approximately 60,000 fans, spectators will have to suit the newly built Olympic stadium on the road in the same complex.

But if the organization and promotion in the accumulation of the CAF championship has spread, the tournament itself is still exciting to be on the field.

What has been changed to Moroccan hosts since the last championship?

Morocco finds itself among the preferred to compete for the first time in their history – for a good reason.

Thanks to the standard investment in the women’s game, within five years, Morocco has moved from football for women to the knockout in the World Cup, and it is one of a handful of countries that contain two levels of professional tournaments.

Part of the country’s campaign to improve gender equality while improving its global image, in 2020, the Moroccan Federation “Marshall Plan” began to develop football for women, with funding from the state.

“Morocco has always had a balance between the province and secularism,” Amin Amiri, a Moroccan football journalist, explained, “Recently, there has been a big step in women’s rights.

“It is a wide trend that Morocco was heading towards the past decade. There are still many issues and obstacles, but if you claim that you are a country that develops women’s football, you should show that you are dealing with these issues.

“By hosting Wafcon, it is a big step in showing all the population of Morocco and on a broader scale in the North African society that it is possible to develop football for women in our context.”

In the context of football, Morocco definitely put his money where his mouth is.

Forty -two clubs (14 in the first and 28th section in the second section) are supported by up to 120,000 dollars per year, in addition to providing them with training facilities, team buses, equipment, clothes and employees for each team.

During the next month, the headquarters of the national team will be at the Mohammed VI Football Complex, which he once described by the full Moroccan and international Moroccan youth, Rosella Ayan.St. George ParkBut with palm trees. “

The complex contains four five -star hotels, eight authentic stadiums, one of which is internal and climate control, future soccer fields, a swimming pool for Olympic, and a sports hospital on the site.

The Kingdom’s money and infrastructure also allowed the best training talents. At the end of Wafcon, Morocco was trained by Reynald Pedros, who managed Lyon for the Champions League title in 2019 and 2020. Their new coach, Jorge WildeSpain led to a victory in the 2023 World Cup before it was sacked in the scandal of Spanish Federation President Luis Rubiales kissing Jenny Hermoso.

The essence of the team plays football locally and is led by Captain GHIZLANE CHEBAK, the former daughter of Larbi Chebbak for men. It is the face of women’s football in Morocco and is already considered a legend of the game. Supported by Chebbak by the talented wings Fatima Tajnot and Sakina Ozrawi Dicky, as well as the best scorer in the Premier League for Saudi Women, IBTissam JRAIDI.

Who are the best competitors?

The standard was not above ever in Africa, and with the presence of the new “Big Four” on the continent, the tournament is scheduled to be a peak competition.

South Africa begins its defense against the black Queens Ghana and maintains the nucleus of the players who raised the cup in Rabat three years ago. But the team does not come to the tournament in the best way.

African heroes miss their star, Thembi Kgatlana, who withdrew from the championship for personal reasons, and the players met last week on unpaid rewards.

But in the duo in Mexico Magia and Jermin Siubenwe and based in Mexico, they still have a fire force for fear. It can be said that Ellis is the best African women’s coach. Since she took over from the Dutch coach Vera Pauw in 2016, Banyana Banyana led to the first two phenomena in the World Cup and the Wafcon.

Nigeria will come to the hungry championship for revenge, after it came out in the semi -finals of Morocco the last time by Morocco, the first time they have not won the championship a decade.

Oshwala, which is likely to be the greatest talent in Nigeria, is still the star of the show, but is surrounded by experienced international works. The Brighton & Hof Albion goalkeeper Chaymaka Nadozi shone at the World Cup and Paris, when they left Arsenal in the Champions League last season. Like South Africa, super hawks faced its own problems that the Union pushed them, and even boycotting themselves in the end of Wafcon.

Who is the emerging team?

While Nigeria still maintains the largest depth of talent, the new face of the emerging African football is Zambia.

Panda scored the winner in the NWSL final last year, as Orlando Barid won his first title and was named in the season team. Kundananji lines his colleague in Oshoala Bay City along the Banda at the front of Zambia, but this is not a team of players.

Under the leadership of Barid Grace Chanda, Queens Al -Nahhas ranked third in the end and they were without a panda or Kundananji. They defeated Nigeria 11 times in the third match, and this time they are ready for more.

Morocco and Zambia joins the first group by Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which returns to the continental theater after 13 years. It will join the sides of North Africa in North Africa, and will join the sides of North Africa Tunisia and Algeria, as well as Botswana, which achieved the quarter -finals in their first appearance in the competition three years ago.

Meanwhile, Mali and Tanzania joined the South African Champions Group.

We have succeeded for a long time for it, but this Wafcon is to be the most exciting yet.

This article was originally appeared in Athlete.

NWSL, women’s football

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