2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations Qualifiers: Kenya draws first blood at home against Uganda

The qualifiers for this year’s continental showpiece of women football kicked off in Machakos, Kenya on Wednesday. Lilian Adera’s 53rd-minute strike was enough to secure a one-goal advantage for the Harambee Starlets over the Crested Cranes ahead of the second leg to be played this Sunday at Star Times Stadium, Kampala.

The right-back, Adera, curled in a beautiful cross into the box which flicked past Crested Cranes’ goalkeeper, Ruth Aturo. The overall winner of this tie will face Equatorial Guinea in the final qualification stage with a victory guaranteeing a spot at the finals to be held in Ghana from 17 November to the 1st of December 2018.

In other fixtures, Ethiopia thrashed Libya 8-0 away from home in a first leg match and Tanzania drew 3-3 with Zambia.

All the qualification matches and results are listed below:

4 April: Senegal v Algeria
10 April: Algeria v Senegal

FT: Libya 0 Ethiopia 8
10 April: Ethiopia v Libya

4 April: Congo v Central African Republic
10 April: Central African Republic v Congo

FT: Kenya 1 Uganda 0
8 April: Uganda v Kenya

FT: Tanzania 3 Zambia 3
10 April: Zambia v Tanzania

5 April: Namibia v Zimbabwe
TBC: Zimbabwe v Namibia

6 April: Morocco v Ivory Coast
TBC: Ivory Coast v Morocco

7 April: Sierra Leone v Mali
10 April: Mali v Sierra Leone

7 April: Burkina Faso v Gambia
10 April: Gambia v Burkina Faso

6 April: Lesotho v Swaziland
TBC: Swaziland v Lesotho