Ahead of the third edition of the West Africa Zone B (WAFU-B) Zonal Qualifiers for Cote d’Ivoire 2023 CAF Women’s Champions League kicking off in Benin City on Sunday, the Nigeria Women’s Football League looks at some of the tournament’s interesting stats.
0 – None of the previous winners of the tournament will feature in the third edition as Hassacas Ladies (Ghana) and Bayelsa Queens (Nigeria) which won the title in 2021 and 2022 respectively didn’t qualify meaning a new Champions will be crowned in Nigeria.
0 – The match between Bayelsa Queens and Ampem Darkoa in the group stage of the 2022 edition was the only game yet to produce a goal after 23 games from 2021 and 2022 tournaments combined.
0 – Technically, Bayelsa Queens from Nigeria have yet to lose a game in the competition. They won four out of five in 2022 and drew one but won’t be defending their title.
2 – The winner at the end of the competition will qualify for the 2023 CAF Women’s Champions League, joining Athletico FC of Abidjan, who qualified automatically as hosts to represent the WAFU-B zone.
4 – Four of the seven teams are making their debut at the tournament. Delta Queens (Nigeria), Athletico FC (Ivory Coast), SAM Nelly (Benin Republic), and AS Garde (Niger Republic) have not taken part in the previous two editions.
2 – Two players from the same country, Maryann Ezenagu (Rivers Angels, Nigeria) and Etim Edidiong (Bayelsa Queens) emerged as the top goal scorers at the end of the 2021 and 2022 editions.
1 – Hassacas Ladies (2021) and Bayelsa Queens (2022) each have won the title in the previous two years. Hassacas defeated Rivers Angels 3-1 in the decider two years ago, while Bayelsa Queens secured a 3-0 win over another Ghanaian side, Ampem Darkoa in the decider last time out.
2 – Two teams Ampem Darkoa (Ghana) and Amis Du Monde (Togo) are making their second appearance.
2 – The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals, giving little room for no error for the teams.
3 – USFA (Burkina Faso) is the only team that has qualified for every edition of the tournament after taking part in the previous editions in 2021 and 2022.
3 – This will be the third edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League | WAFU-B Qualifier after it was first staged in 2021. Both previous editions have also been held in Ivory Coast, the next host of the main tournament in November.
5 – Maryann Ezenagu from Rivers Angels was the leading scorer in the inaugural competition in 2021 with five goals.
6 – Bayelsa Queens hold the record for the biggest win in the competition after they thrashed Benin Republic’s Espoir 6-0 in 2022.
6 – For the second time, the regional tournament is having a joint lowest number of participating teams. Six teams also took part in the inaugural edition in 2021 before seven in the 2022 campaign.
23 – The total number of games played so far at the tournament.
32 – The number of goals scored in the inaugural competition in 2021. There were 32 netted in 2021, though there were only six teams that took part in the finals.
46 – The number of goals scored in 13 games at the 2022 edition with seven teams.