The stage is set for tonight’s CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, WAFCON, final Group C fixtures.
Nigeria will face Egypt in Rabat, while Zambia will tackle Malawi in the other fixture.
DAILY POST reports that Malawi currently tops Group C with six points, and Nigeria and Zambia are tied on three points in second and third positions, while Egypt occupies the bottom place with zero points.
This means that Group C is heading for a dramatic final day showdown, and only two teams out of the four teams will qualify for the two quarter-final spots.
Defending champions Nigeria must beat Egypt to keep their hopes alive, but that might not be enough if Zambia defeats Malawi in the other match, forcing a three-way tie on points.
If Nigeria wins and Malawi avoids defeat against Zambia, the Super Falcons are through to the knockout stage.
But if Zambia beats Malawi, it creates a three-way tie on six points for Nigeria, Zambia and Malawi, allowing CAF’s head-to-head rules (excluding results against Egypt) to decide who among Nigeria, Zambia and Malawi advances.
A narrow Zambia win against Malawi, like 1-0, 2-1, could eliminate Zambia despite their big goal difference of plus five, due to their loss to Nigeria.
But a high-scoring Zambia win against Malawi, like 4-3, could eliminate Nigeria, with Malawi and Zambia advancing on goals scored.
However, there is an improbable scenario where Egypt could qualify for the knockout stage.
The North Africans would need to hope Malawi beat Zambia, and they would need to thrash Nigeria 11-0 to progress.
This means that the WAFCON Group C remains wide open as the top two teams will advance to the quarter-finals.
Speaking with DAILY POST on Tuesday ahead of the WAFCON Group C final fixtures, on Wednesday, Saheed Afolabi, who works with Echonews, expressed confidence that the Super Falcons have what it takes to beat Egypt and progress to the quarter-final stage.
Afolabi also explained that the WAFCON Group C could be decided by the CAF head-to-head rules.
“The Super Falcons have what it takes to reach the final knock-out stage at the WAFCON. Apart from their shocking defeat to Malawi in the first game, they were able to get themselves back on track. The team was unified and scored a 1-0 victory against Zambia,” Afolabi told DAILY POST.
“So against Egypt, the Falcons just need to win the game, even if it’s 1-0, 2-0, or 3-0. They just have to win it, disregarding any factor that happens between Zambia and Malawi.
“So the Super Falcons have to win even if Zambia defeats Malawi, the head-to-head rule comes into play. They just need to win, and CAF will look at the head-to-head rule since Nigeria beat Zambia; that head-to-head rule automatically puts Nigeria above Zambia.
“If the Falcons can score like three to four goals, they can also can even move ahead of Malawi, because Malawi has plus three goals difference,” he said.
WAFCON Group C Permutations: Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi battle for two quarter-final spots