Thursday, July 7
•South Africa 3-1 Burundi
•Botswana 0-2 Nigeria

Friday, July 8
•Burkina Faso Vs Uganda – 11pm
•Morocco Vs Senegal – 11pm

Crested Cranes face Burkina Faso at the Mohammed V Complex in a battle to see which side finish third in Group A at the ongoing 2022 Women AFCON.

Hosts Morocco and Senegal will face off at the same time in the other Group game at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium – Both sides have already progressed to the Quarterfinals – but they will be battling out to see who finishes on top.

Uganda or Burkina Faso have an outside chance of qualifying to the knockout as one of the two best third placed-teams.

But with both sides on zero points, this match must produce a winner because any draw will see Burkina finish third with just one point.

The third teams in the other two groups have more than one point – Cameroon have two points in B while Botswana have three points having beaten Burundi in their opener.

And that may change because those two groups have not played their last games as well.

In brief, for Crested Cranes to reach the Quarterfinals, they MUST beat Burkina Faso first and pray that the other results in other groups go their way.

It’s a tall order, right? But there is still chance and hope. Just.

More Work Needs To Be Done

Uganda will feel hard done by the fact that their admirable effort against Morocco went unrewarded.

But a 3-1 result was another big remainder of what happens at this stage if you fail to correct simple mistakes.

Some players are still reckless going into tackles and they end up giving away uncalled for set-pieces where the team is still vulnerable.

Even with right coordination still lacking upfront, a couple of chances have been created, but by some reasons the ball is yet to cross the line from normal play.

And that has not been helped going into the Must-win game against Burkina Faso as Creative Midfielder Hassifa Nassuna is still ruled out.

Sumaya Komuntale is suspended after that controversial red card, and that leaves coach George Lutalo with more selection headache.

There is no other left back on the team, but Right back Asia Nakibuuka has played in that left role initially and will be deployed there.

Aisha Nantongo will then switch to the right side of defence, while Phionah Nabbumba will retain her role in the middle of defence as Yudaya Nakayenze is still ruled out.

Tracy Jones Akiror may be given some minutes in the midfield as it’s a win-or-burst situation for the Crested Cranes.