The Confederation of African Football on Monday in Cairo, Egypt conducted an expanded 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations draws which produced an intriguing tie in the opening round with defending champions Nigeria set to face neighbours and traditional rivals Ghana.
It is one of 22 ties that saw the 44 teams seeded based on geography rather than a ranking system taking into account past results, the latest Fifa rankings or even a mixture of the two.
Nigeria are currently the top-ranked women’s side in Africa according to Fifa with Ghana at number four.
CAF Senior Manager of Women Football & Futsal Heba Sarwat conducted the draw, assisted by Egyptian footballer Nadine Ghazy.
The first leg and second leg fixtures will hold between June 7th and 10th.
The 22 aggregate winners progress to the second round that will decide the 11 nations joining hosts Morocco at next year’s finals.
The 2022 tournament will be the first to feature 12 nations after the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Women’s Nations Cup will act as the qualifiers for the global showpiece to be played in Australia and New Zealand with the four semi-finalists securing places at the 2023 World Cup
