The 2008 African Women's Championship qualification process was organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2008 African Women's Championship. Equatorial Guinea qualified automatically as hosts, while the remaining seven spots were determined by qualifying rounds, which took place from November 2007 to March 2008.

Teams A total of 22 national teams entered qualification. The qualification was in two rounds, with each match taking place over 2 legs. In the first round, the 16 lowest-ranked nations were drawn in pairs. The eight winners joined six other national teams in the 2nd round, where the seven winners together with the hosts qualified for the finals.cafonline.com: RESULTS AND STATISTICS/ African Women Championship

Teams who withdrew before playing a match are in italics.

RoundTeams entering roundNo. of teamsFirst round16Second round6Qualifying roundsTotal22Final tournament1

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, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).

The seven winners of the final round qualified for the final tournament.

Schedule The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows.

RoundLegDateFirst roundFirst leg30 November 2007Second leg16 December 2007Second roundFirst leg24 February 2008Second leg8 March 2008

First round Was played between 30 November and 16 December 2007. Cameroon, Congo-Kinshasa, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and South Africa had a bye to the second round.

Overview

Egypt, Burundi and Benin withdrew their matches.

Matches

Algeria won 3–1 on aggregate.

Tunisia advanced on walkover after Egypt withdrew.

Second round Played between 24 February and 8 March 2008.

Overview

Matches

Qualified teams The following teams qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified onPrevious appearances in tournament1 Hosts 1 (2006) Winners against Tanzania 8 March 2008 6 (1991, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006) Winners against DR Congo 8 March 2008 Debut Winners against Ivory Coast 8 March 2008 7 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006) Winners against Guinea 8 March 2008 3 (2002, 2004, 2006) Winners against Namibia 8 March 2008 7 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006) Winners against Zimbabwe 8 March 2008 6 (1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006) Winners against Algeria 8 March 2008 Debut 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

References