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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.
| 2023 UFOA Zona A Copa Feminina | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country |  Cape Verde |
| City | Espargos |
| Dates | 20 January – 1 February 2023 |
| Teams | 7 (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 played | 13 |
| Goals scored | 44 (3.38 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Hapsatou Malado Diallo (9 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Ivânia Moreira |
| Best goalkeeper | Tening Séné |
| Fair play award | Guinea-Bissau |
← 2020 | |
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]
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
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 | |
these officials were appointed by WAFU A to officiate the tournament.
- Referees
Suavis Iratunga
Ngum Fatou
Sylvina Garnett Welma
Yacine Samassa
Aissata Diarra
Maimouna Danfakha
- Assistant referees
Evandra Furtado da Costa Lima- Jainaba Manneh
- Hannah Moses
- Houleye Diba
- Mariam Coulibaly
- Tabara Mbodji
Precious Amara
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.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
|---|---|
|
|
|
Each team was required by WAFU-UFOA to name a squad of a minimum of 20 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers).
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]
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- 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;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Drawing of lots.
Group A
| 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
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)
Referee: Ngum Fatou (Gambia)
Group B
| 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
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
| 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' |
Referee: Yacine Samassa (Mauritania)
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 27 January – Estádio Marcelo Leitão | ||||||
| Cape Verde | 2 | |||||
| 29 January – Estádio Marcelo Leitão | ||||||
| Gambia | 1 | |||||
| Cape Verde | 0 | |||||
| 27 January – Estádio Marcelo Leitão | ||||||
| Senegal | 1 | |||||
| Senegal | 4 | |||||
| Guinea-Bissau | 0 | |||||
| Third Place | ||||||
| 29 January – Estádio Marcelo Leitão | ||||||
| Gambia | 3 | |||||
| Guinea-Bissau | 2 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Cape Verde | 2–1 | Gambia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FCF) Report (WAFU A) |
Jatta 66' |
Referee: Aissata Diarra (Mali)
Third-place match
| Gambia | 3–2 | Guinea-Bissau |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FCF) Report (WAFU A) |
|
Final
Referee: Sylvina Garnett (Liberia)
Goalscorers
There were 44 goals scored in 13 matches, for an average of 3.38 goals per match.
9 goals
7 goals
- Ivânia Moreira
- Catherine Jatta
3 goals
2 goals
- Ola Buwaro
- Jeanne Niang
1 goal
- Joseane Fernandes
- Sasha Whannon
- Kleydiana Borges
- Varsénia da Luz
- Maísa Tavares Cardoso
- Kaddy Jarju
Fatoumata Dédé Diallo
Luísa Paulo Mendes- Suraia da Silva
- Júlia Mendes
- Matilda Kabba
Discipline
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Funmilayo Adiara Adebisi |
  in Group A vs Guinea-Bissau (matchday 2; 22 January) |
Group A vs Cape Verde (matchday 3; 24 January) |
| 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]
Liberia withdrawal
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.
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