Princesses meet Uganda next in U-20 WWC qualifiers after winning against South Africa
GHANA’S female Under-20 side, the Black Princesses, have progressed to the final round of the 2026 Women’s World Cup (WWC) qualifiers following a crucial 1-0 win against South Africa last Saturday.
A 63rd-minute strike from Priscilla Mensah handed the Princesses that important result in the second leg of their tie at the Nelspruit-Mbomela Stadium, making them 3-2 winners on aggregate, after the first leg in Accra had ended 2-2.
Having advanced, the Princesses will now face Uganda in the final leg of the qualifiers for the 2026 WWC, which will be hosted in Poland in September.
Goal
From that first leg scoreline, not many had hope that the Princesses would survive, not because they are not a good side, but because of the manner in which, on two occasions, they surrendered their lead to the South Africans in the first leg.
In South Africa, however, they ensured that they did not commit the mistakes they did in the first leg and held the South Africans to a goalless draw in the first half.
Coach Charles Simpson and his charges stuck to their script, and kept the pressure on their hosts and were deservedly rewarded with the only goal of the decisive match, scored by Mensah, who netted her first goal in this campaign.
The Princesses also showed more discipline in their defence, which helped them to keep trouble at bay from the constant harassment from the South Africans.
Uganda also booked their clash against Ghana with a 2-1 aggregate against Zambia, also earning an important 1-0 away win. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw.
Other matches
In other qualifying games, Nigeria, Malawi, Cameroun, Tanzania, Côte d'Ivoire and Benin all advanced to the final round of the campaign, which will select Africa’s four representatives for the WWC scheduled from September 5 - 27.
Nigeria finished the third round 3-1 winners on aggregate against Senegal, winning the first leg 1:0 and the second leg 2:1.
Côte d’Ivoire won 2-1 against the Democratic Republic of Congo, winning the first leg at home and losing the second leg away.
Tanzania shocked Kenya 3-1 on penalties after the tie ended 1-1. Kenya had won the first leg at home, but lost the second leg away by the same 1-0 result.
Malawi were the big winners in the third round, beating Guinea-Bissau 6-1 on aggregate from a 1-1 draw in the first leg and an emphatic 5-1 win in the second leg.
Final Round
Ghana v Uganda
Cameroun v Tanzania,
Côte d’Ivoire v Benin
Nigeria v Malawi
First leg will be played on May
1-3; second leg on May 8-10.
