2006 African Women's Championship

The 2006 African Women's Championship was the 7th edition of the biennial African women's association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football. Originally scheduled to be held in Gabon in September, it took place in Nigeria for the 4th time from 28 October to 11 November 2006.

2006 African Women's Championship
Tournament details
Host countryNigeria
Dates28 October – 11 November
Teams8
Venue(s)4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Nigeria (7th title)
Runners-up Ghana
Third place South Africa
Fourth place Cameroon
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored54 (3.38 per match)
Top scorer(s)Nigeria Perpetua Nkwocha (7 goals)
Best player(s)South Africa Portia Modise

Gabon withdrew as hosts due to "organizational reasons",[1] thus CAF gave this tournament edition's hosting rights to Nigeria in May 2006.[2] Initially, this edition of the tournament was scheduled for September 2006, but it was moved to October due to weather considerations.[3]

This edition of the tournament also doubled as the African qualification for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. Nigeria won its 7th consecutive title, beating Ghana 1–0 in the final, although both finalists were guaranteed qualification to that edition of the international tournament in China. South Africa's Portia Modise was named player of the championship.[4]

Qualification
Main article: 2006 African Women's Championship qualification

The original hosts (Gabon) qualified automatically, while the remaining seven spots were determined by the qualification rounds which took place from March to August 2006.

Nigeria initially entered qualification at the second round and was scheduled to play Equatorial Guinea when CAF elected them as replacement hosts, thus that match was scrapped and both teams qualified for the group stage at Gabon's expense.

Format

Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied; if scores still level, extra time would be skipped and the use of a penalty shoot-out would determine the qualifier. The seven winners of the qualification round qualified for the group stage.

Qualified teams
  Qualified
  Did not qualify
  Did not enter or withdrew
  Not part of CAF

Equatorial Guinea made their tournament debut at this edition.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous tournament appearances[lower-alpha 1]
 NigeriaReplacement hosts17 May 20066 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004)
 Equatorial GuineaBy default17 May 2006Debut
 South AfricaWinners against Tanzania4 August 20065 (1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004)
 AlgeriaWinners against Egypt5 August 20061 (2004)
 GhanaWinners by default against Congo5 August 20066 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004)
 CameroonWinners against Kenya5 August 20065 (1991, 1998, 2000, 2002)
 DR CongoWinners against Senegal5 August 20061 (1998)
 MaliWinners against Benin6 August 20062 (2002, 2004)

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals.

Group A

Equatorial Guinea arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in a private chartered plane which had no clearance to land, with its players unable to disembark for 3 hours. This left them no other choice than to return home unhappy with the treatment they received by airport officials despite organizers trying to remedy the situation.[5] However, their first match was played as scheduled.

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
 Nigeria 93300122
 South Africa 6320162
 Equatorial Guinea 1301259
 Algeria 13012313
South Africa 4–0 Algeria
  • Phewa 1', 35'
  • Nompumelolo 38'
  • Solomon 90'
 Report (BBC)
Nigeria 4–2 Equatorial Guinea
 Report (archived)
Algeria 0–6 Nigeria
Report (BBC)
Equatorial Guinea 0–2 South Africa
Report (archived)
  • Nkosi 63'
  • Solomon 75'
Equatorial Guinea 3–3 Algeria
 Report (archived)
Nigeria 2–0 South Africa
Uwak 4', 43' Report (BBC)

Group B
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
 Ghana 9330062
 Cameroon 4311143
 Mali 3310235
 DR Congo 1301247
Mali 0–1 Ghana
Report (BBC) Rumanatu 56'
Cameroon 1–1 DR Congo
Ngono Mani 1' Report (archived) Kisita 57'
Ghana 2–1 Cameroon
Amankwa 28', 90+' Report (BBC) Bella 53'
DR Congo 2–3 Mali
 Report (archived)
DR Congo 1–3 Ghana
Nzuzi 51' Report (archived)
Cameroon 2–0 Mali
 Report (BBC)

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China.

Nigeria 5–0 Cameroon
 Report (archived)
Ghana 1–0 South Africa
Okoe 88' (pen.) Report (archived)

Third place match
Cameroon 2–2 South Africa
 Report (archived)
Penalties
4–5

Final
Nigeria 1–0 Ghana
Nkwocha 13' Report (archived)
Attendance: 25,000

This match was described by the BBC as "a drab encounter".

Awards
 2006 African Women's Championship winners 

Nigeria
7th title

Notes
  1. Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

References
  1. "Gabon pulls out of hosting AWC". BBC Sport. 17 April 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2006.
  2. Boadu-Ayeboafoh, Yaw (17 May 2006). "Nigeria awarded 2006 AWC". Daily Graphic. Graphic Communications Group. Retrieved 26 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  3. Okeleji, Oluwashina (31 July 2006). "CAF delays Women's Championship". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  4. "Portia simply the Ellis". The Sowetan. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  5. "E/Guinea Flies into Trouble, Return to Malabo". This Day. 27 October 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
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