The Zambia Women’s National Team will face the Black Queens of Ghana in the third round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifiers.
This is after Ghana beat Benin 2-0 and 5-0 on aggregate to set up the mouth watering duel.
The Copper Queens on the other hand had a free passage to the third round following the withdrawal of their second round opponents Mali.
Ghana seems to have rejuvenated since the appointment of Nora Hauptle as head coach in January.
The 39 year old former Switzerland women’s head coach is yet to face defeat guiding the Black Queens to nine straight wins.
They have scored 31 goals in the nine games and are yet to concede even a single goal in the same period.
They have however faced teams ranked above 80th in the World.
Ghana’s last loss came on 13th April, 2022 against the Atlas Lionesses of Morocco in an international friendly match.
Zambia on the other hand has at least two losses if we include the COSAFA Women’s Championship (with six wins and a draw).
If we remove the COSAFA Women’s Championship, The Copper Queens have five wins, three losses and a draw, however their opponents include World Number 2, Spain, World Number 6, Germany, World Number 8, Japan, World Number 21, Switzerland, World Number 24, Republic of Ireland and Africa’s 4th highest ranked team, Morocco who they twice away in Rabat.
The last time the two teams met was back in 2018 at Nkoloma Stadium where the Copper Queens came from two goals down to beat Ghana thanks to a Rachel Kundananji hat-trick.
Coach Bruce Mwape will be looking to the prowess of his frontline led by Spanish Liga F leading goalscorer Kundananji and China based Barbra Banda to Nora Hauptle her first loss.
It will not be an easy game for the Copper Queens but with the arsenal available at Mwape’s disposal, any team facing the Copper Queens will not have it easy.
Zambia and Ghana will face off in February, 2024 for a slot in the final of the Olympic Qualification tournament.
The winner between Zambia and Ghana will face the winner between Tunisia and Morocco for a place at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
BLACK QUEENS LAST NINE GAMES
Ghana 🇬🇭 3-0 Benin 🇧🇯
Ghana 🇬🇭 3-0 Senegal 🇸🇳
Ghana 🇬🇭 1-0 Senegal 🇸🇳
Ghana 🇬🇭 3-0 Guinea 🇬🇳
Ghana 🇬🇭 4-0 Guinea 🇬🇳
Ghana 🇬🇭 7-0 Rwanda 🇷🇼
Ghana 🇬🇭 5-0 Rwanda 🇷🇼
Ghana 🇬🇭 3-0 Benin 🇧🇯
Ghana 🇬🇭 2-0 Benin🇧🇯
