Women's Africa Cup of Nations: South Africa, Nigeria and Botswana into quarters

Defending champions Nigeria sealed their place in the quarter-finals at the women's Africa Cup of Nations from Group C along with Botswana and pool winners South Africa. © CAF

Uchenna Kanu bagged a brace on Sunday night as defending champions Nigeria walloped Burundi 4-0 to advance to the quarter-finals at the women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

The 25-year-old scored her first on the half hour mark to effectively kill off the tie.

The strike followed a Rasheedat Ajibade penalty in the 25^th minute and Peace Efih’s first goal of the tournament three minutes later.

After the pause, Kanu slotted in her second goal of the match to make it 4-0. With qualification secured, Randy Waldrum’s players eased up.

The emphatic victory will bolster confidence after the opening day defeat to South Africa.

That setback was followed by a 2-0 win over Botswana before last night's saunter past an inexperienced Burundi side.

Nigiera will next play Cameroon on Thursday for a place in the semi-final and automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Out

Burundi, who were making their first appearance at the tournament, leave proceedings with three defeats.

At the other end of the spectrum lies South Africa who moved into a last eight showdown following a third straight conquest.

Nthabiseng Ronisha Majiya struck South Africa’s winner in the 80^th minute to complete an impressive clean sweep of the pool stages.

A super sub! 💫

Nthabiseng Majiya was the hero for #TeamSouthAfrica against Botswana! 🦸‍♀️#TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 | #EmpoweringOurGame | @Banyana_Banyana pic.twitter.com/kdLkw7VmJe

— #TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 (@CAFwomen) July 10, 2022

The 2018 beaten finalists will play Tunisia who progressed along with Botswana as the two best third-placed teams.

Botswana face a tough assignment in the shape of hosts Morocco who won all of their three games in Group A.

But despite their romp through the pool, Morocco coach Reynald Pedros said he would not allow his players to underestimate Botswana.

“We’re expecting another tough game – just like the ones we had in the pool,” added the 50-year-old Frenchman. “We’ve got to recover because we know it’s not going to be easy.”

Group B winners Zambia will vie with Senegal for a place in the semi-finals.

Zambia coach Bruce Mwape said: “We have some young players on the team and we want to continue giving them a chance to express themselves.”