The 1998 African Women's Championship was the first official staging of the biennial African Women's Championship tournament organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Since this edition, the tournament has been organized biennially and was hosted by a country unlike the previous two editions.
It was hosted from 17 to 31 October by Nigeria whose women's team successfully defended its title, winning it for a 3rd time after beating Ghana 2–0 in the final. Both finalists qualified for the following year's FIFA Women's World Cup in the United States.
Qualification A qualification round was installed in the tournament for the first time. With Nigeria qualifying automatically as hosts, the remaining seven spots were determined by a qualification round and a play-off round which took place between March and April 1998.
First leg:
Second leg:
Mozambique won 7–2 on aggregate and qualified for the main tournament.
South Africa won 15–0 on aggregate and qualified for the main tournament.
Egypt won 2–1 on aggregate and qualified for the main tournament.
Ghana won 19–0 on aggregate and qualified for the main tournament.
DR Congo won by default and qualified for the main tournament.
Cameroon won by default and qualified for the main tournament.
Morocco won by default and qualified for the main tournament.
Qualified teams DR Congo, Egypt and Morocco made their debuts in the tournament at this edition. Mozambique failed to arrive for the tournament despite qualifying with Lesotho as its late replacement for Mozambique, also failing to show up.
Team Appearance Previous best appearance (1991) (1995) (hosts) (1991, 1995) (1995)
Venues Kaduna Ijebu Ode Ahmadu Bello Stadium Gateway Stadium Capacity: 16,000 Capacity: 20,000
Group stage Tiebreakers If two or more teams in the group stage are tied on points tie-breakers are in order: greater number of points in matches between tied teams superior goal difference in matches between tied teams greater number of goals scored in matches between tied teams superior goal difference in all group matches greater number of goals scored in all group matches fair play criteria based on red and yellow cards received drawing of lots
Group A
Group B
was also drawn into this group, but withdrew before playing.
Knockout stage
Semi-finals Winners qualified for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup in the United States.
Third place play-off
Final
Awards
Statistics Team statistics
|colspan="10"|Eliminated in the group stage
Goalscorers 3 goals
Nkiru Okosieme
2 goals
Patience Avre Rita Nwadike
1 goal
Mercy Akide Stella Mbachu Florence Omagbemi
Unknown scorers : 18 additional goals. : 11 additional goals. : 8 additional goals. : 7 additional goals. : 4 additional goals. : 2 additional goals. : 2 additional goals.
Controversies During the tournament, Nigerian Iyabo Abade's shorts were pulled down in the middle of a pitch by an opponent, after Ayabo was suspected to be intersex. Ayabo later described the incident as one of the worst experiences of her life.
References
External links Tournament edition records and statistics at RSSSF