Hosts Ethiopia have ejected Uganda Crested Cranes 5-4 on penalty shootouts in the first round of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) 2026 qualifiers.
After losing the first leg 2-0, the Ethiopian team battled to score two goals against Uganda at the Abebe Bikila Stadium in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.
Aregash Kalsa netted the opening goal for the hosts after 66 minutes, moments after Uganda’s forward Fazila Ikwaput had been sent-off.
Earlier Uganda Crested Cranes also had Zaina Namuleme miss a clear cut opportunity, but missed by inches. The hosts continued to attack in numbers, but the Crested Cranes defenders held on strong.
Seven minutes into added time Etsegenet Girma made it 2-0 sending the home fans into jubilations.
During penalty shootouts Ethiopia’s Tarikwa Debiso had her effort saved, while Uganda’s Phiona Nabbumba and Resty Kobusobozi missed.
Ethiopia will now face the winner between Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea in the second round of the qualifiers.
In matches played on Tuesday night South Sudan suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Algeria to drop out on an 8-0 goal aggregate. Rwanda held hosts Egypt to a 2-2 draw, but failed to make it to the next round after losing the first leg 1-0 in Kigali.
In other matches to be played later tonight involving teams from the CECAFA Zone Burundi will face Burkina Faso, Djibouti battle Togo, while Kenya take on Tunisia in Tunis.
