Harambee Starlets in Pot 2 of AWCON draw
What you need to know:
- The four remaining teams (Kenya, Mali, Algeria and Zambia) are all seeded in a third level in pot 2 containing four balls. Algeria and Zambia are returning after missing action in 2016, when Kenya made its debut.
- Mali was present in 2016 in Cameroon, but did not qualify for 2012 and 2014 editions.
The procedure of the draw of the 2018 Total Women's Africa Cup of Nations (AWCON), which will be held in Accra, Ghana on Sunday night, has been announced with Kenya placed in pot 2 alongside Mali, Algeria and Zambia.
Eight countries will be divided into two groups of four teams each. According to the Confederation of African Football (Caf), Ghana is put in Group ‘A’ as the host country (A1), while Nigeria will headline Group ‘B’ as B1, the cup holder of the previous tournament.
Cameroon and South Africa will be seeded in a second level in pot 1 for having the best results in the last three editions of this biennial competition.
They both had the best results in those three editions as Cameroon finished third in 2012 and second in 2014 and 2016, while South Africa came second in 2012 and fourth in 2014 and 2016.
Only the results of AWCON are taken into consideration in the seeding.
The four remaining teams (Kenya, Mali, Algeria and Zambia) are all seeded in a third level in pot 2 containing four balls. Algeria and Zambia are returning after missing action in 2016, when Kenya made its debut.
Mali was present in 2016 in Cameroon, but did not qualify for 2012 and 2014 editions.
The first ball drawn from the pot 1 will be in group ‘A’ and a draw will be done to determine its position (A2, A3, A4) from the pot 3; then the second ball will be in group ‘B’ and a draw will be done to determine its position (B2, B3, B4) from pot 4.
For the four remaining teams in pot 2, the ball drawn the first will be in group ‘A’ and a draw will be done to determine its position (A2, A3, A4) from the third pot and the ball drawn the second will be in group ‘B’ and a draw will be done to determine its position (B2, B3, B4) from the fourth pot. This procedure will be repeated twice.
Kenya's Harambee Starlets booked her place in AWCON 2018 after Equatorial Guinea was kicked out on October 17 by Caf for fielding an ineligible player during their second round of qualification in June this year.
Ghana will host the AWCON from November 17 to December 1 in Accra and Cape Coast.
