After the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations got underway yesterday with wins for Algeria and Morocco in Group A, Group B began with three-time runners-up South Africa and Ivory Coast.
Here is a rundown of what happened in the two fixtures.
South Africa 1-2 Tanzania – Tanzania shockBayana Bayana in their opening game
There was to be a shock in the opening encounter of Group B, as Tanzania secured their first-ever win at the Women’s AFCON finals, beating South Africa 2-1.
It was a slow opening, but in the 37th minute, Diana Msewa showed brilliant pace and close control to race past Bongeka Gamede and fire a low effort, which took a deflection courtesy of a last-ditch sliding tackle from Gamede, but ultimately had enough to wrongfoot goalkeeper Andile Dlamini.
South Africa almost levelled soon after. Tanzania keeper Najiati Idrisa missed a cross from Robyn Moodaly, and it dropped to Tigres forward Thembi Kgatlana, who got a shot away towards the top left corner. Idrisa recovered to claw it away for a corner.
They were level right on the stroke of half-time, though; the following corner was pushed downwards by Idrisa, right into the path of Bambanani Mbane, with the Mamelodi Sundowns centre-back heading home the equaliser from close range.
Into the second half, and Tanzania were denied the lead once more thanks to a brilliant save from Dlamini to deny Hasnath Ubamba. The free-kick from just outside the box seemed to wrongfoot the South African keeper, but she managed to correct her positioning and push the ball away to her left.
Ubamba’s late winner
Ultimately, it would be the 20-year-old Ubamba who had the decisive moment, carrying the ball from the byline, using her speed to dash into the box before firing the winner low into the net at Dlamini’s near post. 87 minutes on the clock, and Tanzania were on the brink of history.
The goal was also the first time that they had scored in the second half of a match at the WAFCON finals.
The final whistle blew, and the Tanzania players dropped to their knees to celebrate a first-ever win at the finals of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
They would face Burkina Faso next, where a win would guarantee them a spot in the knockout rounds for the first time.
Côte d’Ivoire 4-1 Burkina Faso –Les Éléphantes secure a comfortable win over 10-player Burkina Faso
The other match in Group B was not to feature a shock, as Côte d’Ivoire returned to the WAFCON for the first time in 12 years with a thumping win over West African rivals Burkina Faso.
It took just six minutes for Les Éléphantes to take the lead, Rébecca Elloh converting a penalty into the bottom left corner, which Faoziatou Ouedraogo dived the correct way for, but was too far into the corner to reach.
Eight minutes later, Inès Konan made it 2-0, getting onto the end of a driving run, plus a cutback from Washington Spirit’s 2022 young POTS, Rosemonde Kouassi, and firing into the roof of the net.
Konan had her brace by the 23rd minute; a corner from the right-hand side by N’Sira Ouedraogo was perfect, and headed into the net by the Strasbourg striker for her second of the evening.
Côte d’Ivoire were initially down to 10 after Mariam Diakité was shown a red card for a denial of a goalscoring opportunity on Adama Congo. Still, the VAR intervened and overturned it, with contact judged to have been minimal.
Having provided the third goal, Ouedraogo was clinical for the fourth, firing a free kick from range into the top corner, sealing a thumping win for Côte d’Ivoire.
The evening went from bad to worse for Burkina Faso after Ouedraogo was played through and wiped out by Elloh, with the young goalkeeper seeing a straight red for DOGSO in the 52nd minute.
Things did improve five minutes later as Balkissa Sawadogo was crossed and tapped home to make it 4-1, which was how it finished.
Day 3 action
6PM BST: Zambia vs Egypt (Stade Olympique de Rabat, Rabat)
9 PM BST: Nigeria vs Malawi (Stade El Barid, Rabat)
