MATCH STATS: Zambia face Egypt in TotalEnergies WAFCON Morocco 2026 Group C
Zambia and Egypt will meet for the first time at the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) when they face off in Group C at the Rabat Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.
• This will be the first meeting between Zambia and Egypt at the WAFCON.
• This is Zambia’s third meeting against a North African team at the tournament, with all three matches taking place in the group stage.
• Zambia are unbeaten in their two previous WAFCON matches against North African opposition, with one win and one draw.
• Zambia defeated Tunisia 1-0 in Casablanca in their second group game at the 2022 edition, with Avell Chitundu scoring the winning goal in second-half stoppage time.
• Zambia drew 2-2 with hosts Morocco in their opening game at the last edition.
• Barbra Banda gave Zambia the lead against Morocco in the first minute before Ibtissam Jraidi equalised in the 12th minute.
• Racheal Kundananji restored Zambia’s lead in the 27th minute, but Ghizlane Chebbak levelled for Morocco for a second time in the 87th minute.
• This will be Egypt’s third WAFCON game against a Southern African team. Their record in the previous two matches is one win and one defeat.
• Egypt’s previous meetings with Southern African opposition came at the 2016 tournament, when they faced Zimbabwe and South Africa in their second and third group games.
• Egypt lost their first four matches at the WAFCON finals before recording their maiden victory with a 1-0 win over Zimbabwe in 2016. Salma Tarik scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute.
• Egypt’s other meeting against a COSAFA team ended in a 5-0 defeat to South Africa in their final group match at the 2016 edition.
• Zambia will be Egypt’s seventh different opponent at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
• Past WAFCON appearances: Four – 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2024.
• Best result: Third place in 2022.
• Zambia will be making their fifth appearance at the finals.
• They are appearing at a fourth successive edition.
• Zambia have missed only one of the last six editions.
• Their record in opening matches at the finals is four games, one win, two draws and one defeat.
• They have drawn their opening match at each of the last two tournaments, drawing 2-2 with Morocco at the 2024 edition and 0-0 with Cameroon in 2022.
• Zambia’s first match at the finals ended in a 2-0 defeat to hosts Namibia in 2014.
• They won their opening game when they returned to the tournament in 2018, defeating Equatorial Guinea 5-0.
• Barbra Banda’s opening goal against Morocco at the last edition was the second-fastest goal in WAFCON history. She scored after 58 seconds.
• The fastest goal at the finals was scored by Mariem Houij after 17 seconds in Tunisia’s 4-1 victory over Togo in their opening match at the 2022 edition.
• Zambia are unbeaten in their last seven group-stage games, with four wins and three draws. Their last group-stage defeat was against Nigeria in their second match at the 2018 edition.
• They have lost only one of their last 10 group-stage matches, recording five wins and four draws.
• Zambia progressed through the group stage unbeaten at each of the last two editions, with four wins and two draws across the two tournaments.
• Their best performance came in 2022, when they finished third and qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
• Zambia were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual champions Nigeria at the last edition.
• They have progressed beyond the group stage at each of the last two editions, having failed to do so in their first two appearances in 2014 and 2018.
• Only one of Zambia’s 16 matches at the finals has ended goalless – their opening game against Cameroon in 2022.
• Racheal Kundananji is Zambia’s leading scorer at the finals with six goals, having scored three in 2018 and three at the 2024 edition.
• Two of Kundananji’s three goals at the 2024 edition were match-winners.
• She scored the winning goal in Zambia’s 3-2 victory over Senegal in their second group game and the only goal in their 1-0 win over DR Congo in their final group match.
• Zambia defeated Namibia 7-2 on aggregate in the qualifiers, with Kundananji scoring four goals across the two legs.
• They won the first leg 4-2 away from home, with Kundananji scoring a hat-trick.
• Zambia followed that with a 3-0 home victory in the second leg, with Kundananji, Eneless Phiri and Prisca Chilufya on target.
• Zambia will be led for a second successive tournament by Swiss coach Nora Häuptle, who was in charge when they reached the quarter-finals at the last edition.
• Häuptle is a former coach of the Ghana women’s national team and German Frauen-Bundesliga club SC Sand.
• She has also coached the Switzerland women’s under-19 national team.
• Past WAFCON appearances: Two – 1998 and 2016.
• Best result: Group stage in 1998 and 2016.
• Egypt return for their third tournament appearance and their first in a decade.
• They first qualified for the inaugural tournament in 1998 and returned in 2016.
• Egypt were eliminated in the group stage at both of their previous appearances.
• They lost all three group games in 1998, suffering defeats against DR Congo, Morocco and Nigeria.
• At their second appearance in 2016, Egypt defeated Zimbabwe between losses to Cameroon and South Africa.
• They lost their opening game at both previous appearances, going down 4-1 to DR Congo in 1998 and 2-0 to Cameroon in 2016.
• Egypt have kept one clean sheet in six matches at the finals, which came in their 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe in 2016.
• All six of Egypt’s matches at the finals have produced goals and a winner.
• Egypt have yet to be involved in a draw at the tournament.
• They are coached by Mohamed Kamal, who is now an established name in women’s football.
• Kamal has coached several clubs in the Egyptian women’s league, most notably Wadi Degla.
• Kamal took charge of the Egyptian senior women’s national team at the end of December 2020 and has been coaching professionally since 1999.
• He was previously coach of the Egypt women’s under-20 national team.
• Kamal won 14 Egyptian Women’s Premier League titles and seven Egyptian Women’s Cup titles as coach of Wadi Degla.
