Tanzania have mountain to climb against Côte d’Ivoire
Famous for being home to Mount Kilimanjaro - Africa’s highest mountain and the world’s highest free-standing mountain above sea level, one would say that Tanzanians know a thing or two about facing a giant in front of you.
That is the tale that the Twiga Stars will have to invoke when they take on in-form Côte d’Ivoire in their last Group B match with a place to the knockout stages of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2026 on the line.
Bakari Shime’s outfit started the tournament with a surprise 2-1 victory over former WAFCON winners South Africans, their first triumph in tounament history, before falling 2-1 to Burkina Faso in a thrilling tie at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca.
Tanzania are facing West African opposition for the sixth time, having previously played Mali twice and Nigeria, Ghana and Burkina Faso once each. The Twiga Stars have lost all five.
Twiga Stars out to reverse trend
Just like they managed to dig deep in their opener to attain their first ever WAFCON victory, Tanzania will be looking to write more history at the continental competition and attain their second objective – which is to qualify for the knockout stages.
But in front of them is a relentless Côte d’Ivoire side that have one foot in the quarterfinals.
“Our loss to Burkina Faso was devastating but we have re-assembled our energies to focus on our next match. This is a must-win one for us to stay in the competition. It is a difficult match but we want to fight for our country and to represent Tanzania in the best way possible,” Shime says with hope.
His captain Opa Clement adds, “This is it. This is the game that defines our tournament and we have spoken amongst ourselves as players and also listened to the coaches. We are ready to implement what we have been told. The plan is to be victorious and go to the knockout stages of the WAFCON. That would mean so much to us as a team.”
The Twiga Stars will be without Madrid CFF forward Hasnath Ubamba who was sent off in the loss to Burkina Faso. She scored Tanzania’s winner over South Africa and will be a crucial miss.
This is Tanzania’s third WAFCON appearance and second in a row but Tuesday’s match will be the first meeting between Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire at the WAFCON.
Victory will send either side into the quarterfinals, though Tanzania will finish as group winners only if Burkina Faso fail to defeat South Africa. A draw will be enough for Tanzania to progress if Burkina Faso lose to South Africa. It would also mean that Côte d’Ivoire progress.
Lady Elephants want more…
Back to the WAFCON for the first time since 2014 and Côte d’Ivoire find themselves in a comfortable position heading into the final Group B match with four points out of a possible six after two games. However, they want it all. Maximum points against Tanzania.
“We don’t need calculators. We don’t want to be in senseless calculations. We want to win the game. If we have pressure, we have positive pressure. It is not an emergency situation. We keep growing. We want to perform well for this third game. We know what we need to do in order to come first,” says Reynald Pedros, Côte d’Ivoire’s head coach.
He adds passionately, “If someone had told me 18 months ago that we would be in the leading position in this group after two matches, I would have been surprised. Everyone knows where we are coming from and where we are going. We still have a great deal of work to do. We haven’t participated in this tournament for 12 years! We shall continue focusing on ourselves. Our destiny is within our reach. We are going to have difficult days, but we have to forget them, focus on ourselves in order for us to get the results that we want.”
This is Côte d’Ivoire’s best start to a WAFCON campaign – defeating Burkina Faso 4-1 in their opening game before drawing 2-2 with South Africa. However, their last group stage clean sheet came in a 5-0 win over Ethiopia in their opening game in 2012.
And now forward Ines Konan, who was just 12 years old when Côte d’Ivoire last registered a clean sheet and has started both of her side’s opening two matches, says, “It is a great pleasure to be here playing at the WAFCON. It is a prestigious tournament. We are so happy to be here as a team. We are going to always ask a lot from ourselves. We are not here by mistake and we need to demonstrate that every time that we are on the pitch. We enjoy playing in front of our fans here and we have to win for them. We continue with humility and focus. We are in the first position but we know what we want [in the tournament].”
Côte d’Ivoire were given a second chance opportunity to be at the tournament after it was expanded from 12 to 16 teams and rankings were applied. Their current position is a re-awakening that has spurred them into serious contenders at the tournament.
The Stat of the Day
Tanzania have conceded in all eight of their WAFCON matches and have scored in their last four games at the finals—their final two matches at the last edition and both games at the current tournament.