2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations

The 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations was the 12th edition of the biennial African women's association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football that was held in Cameroon.^[1] Originally scheduled to be held between 8 and 22 October 2016, it was delayed to between 19 November and 3 December 2016 due to weather considerations.^[2]

2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations

Coupe d'Afrique des nations féminine de football 2016
Tournament details
Host country	Cameroon
Dates	19 November – 3 December
Teams	8
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Nigeria (8th title)
Runners-up	Cameroon
Third place	Ghana
Fourth place	South Africa
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	39 (2.44 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Asisat Oshoala (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Gabrielle Onguéné
Fair play award	Cameroon
← 2014 2018 →

On 6 August 2015, the CAF Executive Committee announced a tournament name change from the African Women's Championship to the African Women Cup of Nations, similar to the male Africa Cup of Nations.^[3] However, CAF alternated this tournament's official logo between the original name and the new name, the Women/Women's Africa Cup of Nations or Women/Women's AFCON.

Qualification

Main article: 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Hosts Cameroon qualified automatically, while the remaining seven spots were determined by the qualification rounds which took place in March and April 2016.

Qualified teams

The following eight teams qualified for the group stage. Mali protested to CAF about Equatorial Guinea fielding an ineligible player in their qualifier; CAF thus disqualified the latter and had the former replace them at the group stage.^[4]

Team	Appearance	Previous best appearance	FIFA ranking at start of event [5]
Cameroon (hosts)	11th	Runners-up (1991, 2004, 2014)	47
Egypt	2nd	Group stage (1998)	80
Ghana	11th	Runners-up (1998, 2002, 2006)	46
Kenya	1st	Debut	132
Mali	6th	Group stage (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)	92
Nigeria	12th	Champions (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014)	37
South Africa	11th	Runners-up (1995, 2000, 2008, 2012)	48
Zimbabwe	4th	Fourth place (2000)	94

Venues

This edition of the tournament took place in Yaoundé and Limbe.^[2]

Yaoundé	Yaoundé Limbe	Limbe
Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo		Limbe Omnisports Stadium
Capacity: 42,500		Capacity: 20,000

Squads

Main article: 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations squads

Each participating team's squad contained a maximum of 21 players.^[6]

Draw

The draw for the group stage took place at the Palais Polyvalent des Sports in Yaoundé on 18 September 2016 at 16:00 WAT (UTC+1).^[7] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four.^[8] For the draw, hosts Cameroon were seeded in position A1 and the defending champions Nigeria were seeded in position B1, with the remaining six teams seeded based on their results in the preceding three tournament editions.^[9]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Cameroon (position A1)  Nigeria (position B1)	Ghana  South Africa	Egypt  Kenya  Mali  Zimbabwe

Group stage

The fixtures were released on 3 November 2015.^[10] The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to the three points for a win system; 3 for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss. If tied on points, the following tiebreakers are applied in the following order:^[6]

1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 7 apply;
5. Goal difference in all games;
6. Goals scored in all games;
7. Drawing of lots.

All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).^[11]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cameroon (H)	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9	Knockout stage
2	South Africa	3	1	1	1	5	1	+4	4
3	Egypt	3	1	0	2	1	7	−6	3
4	Zimbabwe	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1

Source: CAF (archived)
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

19 November 2016

15:30

Cameroon	2–0	Egypt
Onguéné 25' Manie 72' (pen.)	Report

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Lidya Tafesse (Ethiopia)

19 November 2016

18:30

South Africa	0–0	Zimbabwe
	Report

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Caroline Wanjala (Kenya)

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22 November 2016

16:00

Cameroon	1–0	South Africa
Ngo 83'	Report

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Aissata Ameyo Amegee (Togo)

22 November 2016

19:00

Zimbabwe	0–1	Egypt
	Report	Tarik 83'

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Suavis Iratunga (Burundi)

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25 November 2016

16:00

Zimbabwe	0–2	Cameroon
	Report	Akaba 2', 50'

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Jonesia Rukyaa Kabakama (Tanzania)

25 November 2016

16:00

Egypt	0–5	South Africa
	Report	Mgcoyi 27' Vilakazi 60' Jane 61' Seoposenwe 66' Motlhalo 84'

Stade Municipal de Limbe, Limbe

Referee: Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nigeria	3	2	1	0	11	1	+10	7	Knockout stage
2	Ghana	3	2	1	0	7	3	+4	7
3	Mali	3	1	0	2	4	10	−6	3
4	Kenya	3	0	0	3	2	10	−8	0

Source: CAF (archived)
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

20 November 2016

16:00

Nigeria	6–0	Mali
Ordega 21' Oshoala 40', 63', 69', 78' U. Sunday 48' (pen.)	Report

Stade Municipal de Limbe, Limbe

Referee: Gladys Lengwe (Zambia)

20 November 2016

19:00

Ghana	0–1	Kenya
Suleman 49' Addo 71' Boakye 90'	Report	Akida 23'

Stade Municipal de Limbe, Limbe

Referee: Jeanne Ekoumou (Cameroon)

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23 November 2016

16:00

Nigeria	1–1	Ghana
Oshoala 19'	Report	Addo 43' (pen.)

Stade Municipal de Limbe, Limbe

Referee: Akhona Makalima (South Africa)

23 November 2016

19:00

Kenya	1–3	Mali
Salano 80'	Report	Coulibaly 36' Touré 50', 62' (pen.)

Stade Municipal de Limbe, Limbe

Referee: Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda)

---

26 November 2016

19:00

Kenya	0–4	Nigeria
	Report	Okobi 3' Ikidi 7' Oshoala 53' Oparanozie 89'

Stade Municipal de Limbe, Limbe

Referee: Letticia Antonella Viana (Swaziland)

26 November 2016

19:00

Mali	1–3	Ghana
Diarra 87'	Report	Eshun 44' Suleman 68' Addo 79' (pen.)

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Maria Rivet (Mauritius)

Knockout stage

At this stage, if a match has its scores level at the end of 90 minutes, extra time except for the third place match and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out^[6]

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	29 November – Yaoundé
	Cameroon	1
					3 December – Yaoundé
	Ghana	0
					Cameroon	0
	29 November – Limbe
					Nigeria	1
	Nigeria	1
	South Africa	0
					Third place play-off
					2 December – Yaoundé
					Ghana	1
					South Africa	0

Semi-finals

29 November 2016

16:00

Cameroon	1–0	Ghana
Feudjio 72'	Report

Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, Yaoundé

Referee: Gladys Lengwe (Zambia)

---

29 November 2016

19:00

Nigeria	1–0	South Africa
Oparanozie 54'	Report

Limbe Stadium, Limbe

Referee: Lidya Tafesse (Ethiopia)

Third place play-off

2 December 2016

15:30

Ghana	1–0	South Africa
Eshun 48'	Report

Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, Yaoundé

Referee: Jonesia Rukyaa Kabakama (Tanzania)

Final

3 December 2016

15:30

Cameroon	0–1	Nigeria
	Report	Oparanozie 86'

Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, Yaoundé

Referee: Aissata Ameyo Amegee (Togo)

Goalscorers

6 goals

• Asisat Oshoala

3 goals

• Elizabeth Addo
• Desire Oparanozie

2 goals

• Henriette Akaba
• Linda Eshun
• Samira Suleman
• Bassira Touré

1 goal

• Raissa Feudjio
• Christine Manie
• Genevieve Ngo
• Gabrielle Onguéné
• Salma Tarik
• Portia Boakye
• Esse Akida
• Cheris Salano
• Sebe Coulibaly
• Binta Diarra
• Faith Ikidi
• Ngozi Okobi
• Francisca Ordega
• Uchechi Sunday
• Refiloe Jane
• Andisiwe Mgcoyi
• Linda Motlhalo
• Jermaine Seoposenwe
• Nothando Vilakazi

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of this edition of the tournament:^[12]

Award	Winner
Best player	Gabrielle Onguéné
Top scorer	Asisat Oshoala
Fair Play award	Cameroon

Best XI

Position	Players
Goalkeeper	Annette Ngo Ndom
Defenders	Claudine Meffometou Osinachi Ohale Janine van Wyk Linda Eshun
Midfielders	Jermaine Seoposenwe Raissa Feudjio Elizabeth Addo Gabrielle Onguéné
Forwards	Desire Oparanozie Asisat Oshoala
Substitutes	Alaba Jonathan Aurelle Awona Janet Egyir Francisca Ordega Portia Boakye Nothando Vilakazi

Gallery

• Demonstrations during the Opening Ceremony in Yaoundé
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  Opening Ceremony in Yaoundé, Cameroon
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