look news india
Kampala, 18 May (HS). Despite a 1-0 win over Zambia in the second leg of the third round of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2024 qualifiers on Friday, Uganda crashed out of the tournament after losing 2-1 on aggregate.
Zambia won 2-0 in the first leg of the third round of qualifiers at the National Heroes Stadium last Sunday thanks to goals from Ruth Mukoma and Namute Chileshe. To move ahead, Uganda had to win this match by a margin of 3 goals, but it could not happen.
After a goalless first half in the match played at St. Mary's Stadium, Kitende, hosts Uganda applied pressure in the second half with Sylvia Kabane scoring in the 73rd minute to give the team a 1-0 lead. Uganda's youth women's team then made more attempts to score goals, but they were unsuccessful and the team was eliminated from the qualifiers.
After the match, Zambia coach Carol Kanyemba praised his team for performing well in the face of pressure from the hosts.
“I am happy that we have qualified for the fourth round and we need to keep working hard because we are hungry to qualify for the World Cup,” Kanyemba was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Zambia captain Zangoose Zulu also made it clear that they have worked hard as a team to overcome Uganda. “I thank everyone at home for their prayers and all my teammates for their hard work,” Zulu said.
Uganda coach Shirley Botes admitted that although they created some good goalscoring chances, they failed to capitalize on them. “The team tried to play better than in the first leg in Lusaka, but we were unlucky today,” Botes said.
In the fourth and final round of the qualifiers, Zambia will face the winner of the match between Morocco and Algeria.
Burundi, another team from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) zone, also qualified for the fourth round after defeating Djibouti 24–0 on aggregate.
The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2024, featuring three qualified teams from Africa, will be played in the Dominican Republic from 16 October to 3 November 2024.