Everything you need to know about Africa Women's Cup of Nations (AWCON 2018)

The African Women’s Cup of Nations 2018 (AWCON 2018) is ongoing in Accra, Ghana and nearly all matches to be played on Friday and Saturday are critical in determining the fate of the contenders for the crown of best women’s national football team on the continent.

Nigeria’s Super Falcons, the defending champions were stunned by South Africa (0-1) in the opening game, and the latter who have been impressive at the tournament went on to thrash Equatorial Guinea (7-1) in their second match.

Zambia who were impressive against Equatorial Guinea in their opening game, winning (5-0), were themselves humbled by Nigeria’s Super Falcons in the next match, losing (0-4).

The hosts Ghana, are also playing a must-win game against Cameroon, having won their first game against Algeria (1-0), before losing to Mali (1-2). Cameroon have won both of their matches, (2-1) against Mali, and (3-0) against Algeria.

We talked to Ghanaian sports journalist, Akosua Addai Amoo, who shared with us her top 5 highlights from the tournament so far, and the takeaways for women’s football on the continent.

AWCON 2018 facts

• Nigeria’s Super Falcons are defending champions, and have won the tournament a record 10 times.
• AWCON 2018 also acts as the African qualifiers to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The top three teams will qualify for the World Cup in France.
• The mascot for AWCON 2018 is an eagle called Agrohemaa. The reason why the eagle is used for the tournament is because of its courage, strength, focus and immortality.

@danmumbere