Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Mali advance in Olympic women’s football qualifiers

Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Mali have reached the next round of the African qualifiers for the women’s football tournament at the 2028 Olympic Games after decisive victories in their second-leg ties.

Cote d’Ivoire completed another convincing win over the Democratic Republic of the Congo, defeating them 3-0 at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan on Tuesday.

Reynald Pedros’ side had already secured a 4-1 victory in the first leg in Lubumbashi and finished the tie with a 7-1 aggregate success. N’sira Ouedraogo put the hosts ahead in the 17th minute before Nadja Meite doubled their advantage from the penalty spot eight minutes later.

Grace Ruth Sery added a third goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time to complete the result. Cote d’Ivoire will now face Cameroon, who progressed after Guinea forfeited their tie.

Earlier in Dakar, Senegal again proved too strong for Tunisia, winning 2-0 at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium. The result followed Senegal’s narrow 1-0 victory in Rades last week and gave the hosts a 3-0 aggregate win.

Nguenar Ndiaye settled the contest with two goals, scoring in the 13th and 27th minutes. Senegal will meet Mali in the next round after the latter overturned a first-leg deficit against Benin.

Mali had lost 3-1 in Lome, Togo, but produced a remarkable response at the 26 March Stadium in Bamako. The Eagles won 6-2 on the night, which gave them a 7-5 aggregate victory. The tie was also described as a 5-7 turnaround in Mali’s favour after the first-leg defeat.

Fatoumata Diarra opened the scoring in the 25th minute, while Saratou Traore struck in first-half stoppage time. Agueissa Diarra then scored the first of her two goals in the 52nd minute, before Aissata Traore made it 4-0 in the 79th minute.

Oumou Kone added another two minutes later, and Agueissa Diarra completed her double from the penalty spot in the 86th minute.

Benin did manage to respond through Romaine Gadonou, who scored twice in the 67th and 75th minutes, but those goals were not enough to preserve their aggregate advantage.

The three teams have therefore secured their places in the next phase of the African qualification process for the 2028 Olympic Games.