# 2018 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification

The 2018 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification was a women's football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2018 Women's Africa Cup of Nations.
A total of eight teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Ghana who qualified automatically as hosts.

## Teams

Apart from Ghana, the remaining 53 members of CAF were eligible to enter the qualifying competition, and a total of 24 national teams were in the qualifying draw, which was announced in early October 2017.
Equatorial Guinea were initially banned from the 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations, but were reinstated after the ban was lifted in July 2017 at an emergency CAF committee meeting, and were included in the qualifying draw. However, FIFA banned them from qualifying for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, meaning they could not qualify for the World Cup regardless of their performance in the Africa Women Cup of Nations.
FIFA Women's World Rankings in September 2017 in brackets (NR=Not ranked).
| Final tournament hosts | Bye to second round (4 teams) | First round entrants (20 teams) |
| Ghana (46) | Nigeria (35)  Cameroon (47)  Equatorial Guinea (51)  South Africa (52) | Ivory Coast (63)  Morocco (72)  Algeria (74)  Senegal (78)  Zimbabwe (83)  Mali (85)  Ethiopia (93)  Burkina Faso (101)  Zambia (102)  Namibia (103)  Tanzania (108)  Kenya (114)  Uganda (115)  Central African Republic (NR)  Congo (NR)  Gambia (NR)  Lesotho (NR)  Libya (NR)  Sierra Leone (NR)  Swaziland (NR) |

### Notes

* Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.

### Did not enter

* Angola (NR)
* Benin (NR)
* Botswana (118)
* Burundi (NR)
* Cape Verde (NR)
* Chad (NR)
* Comoros (NR)
* Djibouti (NR)
* DR Congo (NR)
* Egypt (77)
* Eritrea (NR)
* Gabon (NR)
* Guinea (98)
* Guinea-Bissau (NR)
* Liberia (NR)
* Madagascar (NR)
* Malawi (NR)
* Mauritania (NR)
* Mauritius (NR)
* Mozambique (NR)
* Niger (NR)
* Rwanda (111)
* São Tomé and Príncipe (NR)
* Seychelles (NR)
* Somalia (NR)
* South Sudan (NR)
* Sudan (NR)
* Togo (NR)
* Tunisia (71)

## Format

Qualification ties are played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score is tied after the second leg, the away goals rule is applied, and if still tied, the penalty shoot-out (no extra time) is used to determine the winner.

## Schedule

The schedule of the qualifying rounds is as follows.
| Round | Dates |
| First round | 4–10 April 2018 |
| Second round | 4–12 June 2018 |
The first round was originally scheduled for 26 February – 6 March 2018, and the second round for 2–10 April 2018, but the dates were moved due to a clash with the CAF Women's Symposium in early March.

## Bracket

The seven winners of the second round qualified for the final tournament.
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round |
| 1 | Senegal | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | | | |
| 4 | Algeria | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | |
| 4 | Algeria | 1 | 2 | 3 | Algeria | Algeria | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| | | | | | Ethiopia | Ethiopia | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Libya | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ethiopia | Ethiopia | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Ethiopia | 8 | 7 | 15 | | | | | |
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round |
| 1 | Morocco | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | |
| 4 | Ivory Coast (a) | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | |
| 4 | Ivory Coast (a) | 1 | 0 | 1 | Ivory Coast | Ivory Coast | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| | | | | | Mali (a) | Mali (a) | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Sierra Leone | — | — | | Mali (a) | Mali (a) | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Mali | — | — | w/o | | | | | |
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round |
| 1 | Burkina Faso | 2 | 1 | 3 (3 p) | | | | | |
| 4 | Gambia | 1 | 2 | 3 (5 p) | | | | | |
| 4 | Gambia | 1 | 2 | 3 (5 p) | Gambia | Gambia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | | | Nigeria | Nigeria | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round |
| 1 | Congo | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | |
| 4 | Central African Republic | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | |
| 4 | Central African Republic | 0 | 1 | 1 | Congo | Congo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | | | Cameroon | Cameroon | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round |
| 1 | Kenya | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | |
| 4 | Uganda | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | |
| 4 | Uganda | 0 | 0 | 0 | Kenya | Kenya | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| | | | | | Equatorial Guinea | Equatorial Guinea | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round |
| 1 | Lesotho | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | |
| 4 | Eswatini | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | |
| 4 | Eswatini | 0 | 1 | 1 | Lesotho | Lesotho | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | | | South Africa | South Africa | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round |
| 1 | Tanzania | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | | | |
| 4 | Zambia (a) | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | | | |
| 4 | Zambia (a) | 3 | 1 | 4 | Zambia (a) | Zambia (a) | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | | | | | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Namibia | 0 | 0 | 0 | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Zimbabwe | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | |

## First round
### Overview

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Senegal | 2–3 | Algeria | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Libya | 0–15 | Ethiopia | 0–8 | 0–7 |
| Morocco | 1–1 (a) | Ivory Coast | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Sierra Leone | w/o | Mali | — | — |
| Burkina Faso | 3–3 (3–5 p) | Gambia | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Congo | 3–1 | Central African Republic | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Kenya | 1–0 | Uganda | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Lesotho | 3–1 | Eswatini | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Tanzania | 4–4 (a) | Zambia | 3–3 | 1–1 |
| Namibia | 0–4 | Zimbabwe | 0–2 | 0–2 |

### Matches

Algeria won 3–2 on aggregate.
Ethiopia won 15–0 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate. Ivory Coast won on away goals.
Mali advanced on walkover after Sierra Leone withdrew.
3–3 on aggregate. Gambia won 5–3 on penalties.
Congo won 3–1 on aggregate.
Kenya won 1–0 on aggregate.
Lesotho won 3–1 on aggregate.
4–4 on aggregate. Zambia won on away goals.
Zimbabwe won 4–0 on aggregate.

## Second round

Winners qualified for 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations.

### Overview

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Algeria | 6–3 | Ethiopia | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| Ivory Coast | 2–2 (a) | Mali | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Gambia | 0–7 | Nigeria | 0–1 | 0–6 |
| Congo | 0–10 | Cameroon | 0–5 | 0–5 |
| Kenya | 2–3 | Equatorial Guinea | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Lesotho | 0–7 | South Africa | 0–1 | 0–6 |
| Zambia | 2–2 (a) | Zimbabwe | 0–1 | 2–1 |

### Matches

Algeria won 6–3 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate. Mali won on away goals.
Nigeria won 7–0 on aggregate.
Cameroon won 10–0 on aggregate.
Equatorial Guinea won 3–2 on aggregate. On 17 October 2018, Kenya were awarded the tie after Equatorial Guinea were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player. However, on 7 November 2018, the decision was overturned on appeal.
South Africa won 7–0 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate. Zambia won on away goals.

## Qualified teams

The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in Africa Women Cup of Nations |
| Ghana (hosts) | 28 September 2016 | 11 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016) |
| Algeria | 10 June 2018 | 4 (2004, 2006, 2010, 2014) |
| Mali | 10 June 2018 | 6 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2016) |
| Nigeria | 11 June 2018 | 12 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) |
| Cameroon | 9 June 2018 | 12 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) |
| Equatorial Guinea | 9 June 2018 | 4 (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012) |
| South Africa | 10 June 2018 | 11 (1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) |
| Zambia | 10 June 2018 | 2 (1995, 2014) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

## Goalscorers

There were 95 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.97 goals per match.
8 goals
* Loza Abera
4 goals
* Rehima Zergaw
* Desire Oparanozie
* Jermaine Seoposenwe
3 goals
* Fatima Sekouane
* Salimata Simporé
* Gabrielle Onguéné
* Barbra Banda
2 goals
* Myriam Benlazar
* Ninon Abena
* Ajara Nchout
* Adolphine Dembélé
* Adama Tamba
* Asisat Oshoala
* Chantelle Esau
* Asha Rashid
* Mavis Chirandu
* Marjory Nyaumwe
1 goal
* Rahima Benaichouche
* Naïma Bouhenni
* Madina Ramdani
* Assia Sidhoum
* Henriette Akaba
* Madeleine Ngono Mani
* Jeannette Yango
* Christelle Demba
* Frangelle Kokolo
* Jade Boho
* Gloria Chinasa
* Ghyslaine Nke
* Erehima Biza
* Senayt Boyzo
* Hiwot Buwli
* Mirkat Feleke
* Bethlehem Kefyalew
* Bizuayehu Tadesse
* Fatou Coulibaly
* Rebecca Elloh
* Ange N'Guessan
* Lilian Adera
* Esse Akida
* Teresa Engesha
* Lerato Kheme
* Kholu Lebakeng
* Litseoane Maloro
* Hawa Tangara
* Bassira Touré
* Ghizlane Chebbak
* Amarachi Okoronkwo
* Mariama Diédhiou
* Mama Diop
* Hildah Magaia
* Nokuthula Dlamini
* Stumai Athumani
* Donisia Minja
* Hellen Chanda
* Racheal Kundananji
* Misozi Zulu
* Erina Jeke
* Emmaculate Msipa
1 own goal
* Ramata Kouanda (against Gambia)