Zambia’s Copper Princesses qualified for the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup after defeating Morocco 3-1 on aggregate, with the last leg ending in a goalless draw at the Stade Municipal de Berkane on Saturday.
Carol Kanyemba, who has become the first Zambian female coach to qualify any national team for a FIFA tournament, and her squad went into the last leg needing only a draw to win a spot in the Dominican Republic for the competition, which will run from October 16 to November 3, 2024.
Moorroco was determined to turn things around in front of their home fans, but the Copper Princesses proved too powerful to give in to the pressure, holding them to a stalemate.
Last Saturday, Namute Chileshe scored a hat-trick in the first leg to give the Copper Princesses a comfortable advantage, which was enough for the team to qualify despite the fact that the qualifiers ended with no away goals or wins for them.
They opened their campaign with a 5-0 victory over Tanzania, but lost the second leg 1-0. In the third round of the qualifiers, they defeated Uganda 2-0 and lost 1-0 in the second leg, but advanced on aggregate.
Zambia has now joined Nigeria, who defeated Liberia 6-1 on aggregate on Friday, as Africa’s representatives at the tournament, with Burundi and Kenya competing for the third spot.
Kenya leads 3-0 on aggregate against Burundi and a draw will allow them to join the Copper Princesses and Flamingoes in the Dominican Republic.
