The first round of qualifying for the women’s football tournament at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris continued on Sunday with two second leg matches seeing Uganda and Ethiopia through to the second round. The Crested Cranes of Uganda emerged victorious over neighbors Rwanda courtesy of an extra time goal from Fazila Ikwaput. Ethiopia are through after a 10-0 aggregate thrashing of Chad.
For Uganda both legs of their clash against Rwanda were played in the Rwandan capital of Kigali but that did not deter the reigning CECAFA region champions from progressing. A scoreless draw in the second leg left the teams even on three goals each and extra time was necessary to determine a winner.
In the 103rd minute a giveaway from Rwanda in the midfield allowed the Ugandan attack to pounce and Ikwaput’s low effort snuck past She Amavubi goalkeeper Angeline Ndakimana for the winning strike. The Crested Cranes will face Cameroon in the second round set to be played in late October.
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia had no issues with Chad after defeating their opponents by a decisive 6-0 result in the first leg also played at the Abebe Bikila Stadium. The Ethiopian team followed up with a routine 4-0 second leg victory to confirm their place in the second round where a much more imposing opponent awaits in Nigeria.
Highlights from both second leg matches on Sunday are below.
Scores
Chad 0-4 Ethiopia
Ethiopia wins 10-0 on aggregate
Rwanda 0-1 Uganda (AET)
Uganda wins 4-3 on aggregate after extra time
Highlights
Rwanda 0-1 Uganda (AET)
Chad 0-4 Ethiopia