The 2002 African Women's Championship qualification process was organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2002 African Women's Championship. Nigeria qualified automatically as both hosts and defending champions,[1] while the remaining seven spots were determined by the qualifying rounds, which took place from August to October 2002.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 10 August – 13 October 2002 |
| Teams | 21 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 22 |
| Goals scored | 70 (3.18 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Jacinta Ramos Géraldine Okawe Joanne Solomon Nomsa Moyo (4 goals) |
Teams
A record 21 national teams participated in the qualifying process.[2]
Teams who withdrew are in italics.
| Round | Teams entering round | No. of teams |
|---|---|---|
| First round | 14 | |
| Second round | 7 | |
| Qualifying rounds | Total | 21 |
| Final tournament |
| 1 |
Format
Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).
The seven winners of the final round qualified for the final tournament.
Schedule
The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows.[3]
| Round | Leg | Date |
|---|---|---|
| First round | First leg | 10–11 August 2002 |
| Second leg | 24 August 2002 | |
| Second round | First leg | 21–22 September 2002 |
| Second leg | 11–13 October 2002 |
First round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Zambia  | w/o1 |  Botswana | — | — |
Ethiopia  | w/o1 |  Swaziland | — | — |
Eritrea  | 4–5 |  Tanzania | 2–3 | 2–2 |
| Angola | 6–1 |  Equatorial Guinea | 3–0 | 3–1 |
São Tomé and Príncipe  | 0–8 | Gabon | 0–2 | 0–6 |
Senegal  | w/o1 |  Guinea-Bissau | — | — |
Ivory Coast  | 4–4 (a) |  Mali | 3–3 | 1–1 |
- 1 Botswana, Guinea-Bissau and Swaziland withdrew.
Zambia won by default and advanced to the second round.
Ethiopia won by default and advanced to the second round.
| Tanzania | 2–2 | Eritrea |
|---|---|---|
Mosi  54'Chambruma 89' | Report | Tekeste 7' Bereket-ab 17' |
Tanzania won 5–4 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
| Angola | 3–0 | Equatorial Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Ramos 3', 78' Mvunbio 83' | Report |
| Equatorial Guinea | 1–3 | Angola |
|---|---|---|
| Añonman 10' | Report | Mvunbio 20' Ramos 39'de Souza 86' |
Angola won 6–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
| São Tomé and Príncipe | 0–2 | Gabon |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Okawe 36' (pen.) Etoua 48' |
| Gabon | 6–0 | São Tomé and Príncipe |
|---|---|---|
| Okawe 24', 71', 81' Etoua 25'Nisame 45'Mapangou 85' | Report |
Gabon won 8–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
| Senegal | Cancelled | Guinea-Bissau |
|---|---|---|
Senegal won by default and advanced to the second round.
| Ivory Coast | 3–3 | Mali |
|---|---|---|
| Bancouly 27', 71' Koudougnon 48' | Report | Konaté 7', 45' N'Diaye 74' |
4–4 on aggregate. Mali won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round.
Second round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zambia | 1–8 | South Africa | 1–4 | 0–4 |
| Ethiopia | 4–2 |  Uganda | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Tanzania | 0–10 | Zimbabwe | 0–5 | 0–5 |
| Angola | 1–1 (5–4 p) |  DR Congo | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Gabon | 0–4 |  Cameroon | 0–0 | 0–4 |
| Senegal | 1–6 |  Ghana | 0–3 | 1–3 |
| Mali | 0–0 (5–4 p) |  Morocco | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Zambia | 1–4 | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Muchindu 64' | Report | Solomon 19', 40', 62' Phewa 80' |
| South Africa | 4–0 | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| Solomon 13' Nteso 17'Mlomo 36'Phewa 47' | Report |
South Africa won 8–1 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.
| Uganda | 2–2 | Ethiopia |
|---|---|---|
| Nakimbugwe 20' Mbekeka 51' | Report | Endegene-Leme 54' Teramah 72' |
Ethiopia won 4–2 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.
| Tanzania | 0–5 | Zimbabwe |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Mpala 10' Moyo 11', 40', 48'Zulu 43' |
Zimbabwe won 10–0 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.
1–1 on aggregate. Angola won the penalty shoot-out 5–4 and qualified for the final tournament.
| Cameroon | 4–0 | Gabon |
|---|---|---|
| Belemgoto 20' (pen.) Mekongo 72' (pen.)Anounga 90+1'Mvie Manga 90+4' | Report |
Cameroon won 4–0 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.
| Senegal | 0–3 | Ghana |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Amoah-Tetteh 24', 56' Darku 29' |
Ghana won 6–1 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.
0–0 on aggregate. Mali won the penalty shoot-out 5–4 and qualified for the final tournament.
Goalscorers
Angolan Jacinta Ramos, Gabonese Géraldine Okawe, South African Joanne Solomon and Zimbabwean Nomsa Moyo were the top scorers in the qualifying process. In total, 70 goals were scored by 44 different players.
- 4 goals
Jacinta Ramos
Géraldine Okawe
Joanne Solomon
Nomsa Moyo
- 3 goals
Rachel Bancouly- Esther Zulu
- 2 goals
- Nadine Mvunbio
Awasso Endegene-Leme- Ornella Etoua
Basilea Amoah-Tetteh- Joyce Ohenewaa
Maïchata Konaté- Diaty N'Diaye
- Veronica Phewa
Ester Chambruma- Precious Mpala
- 1 goal
- Sonia de Souza
Antoinette Anounga- Rolande Belemgoto
- Cecile Mekongo
- Etebe Mvie Manga
Louyeye Binga
Genoveva Añonman
Semhar Bereket-ab- Teamu Debessay
- Makda Mebrahtu
- Merhawit Tekeste
- Feleke Adois
- Tesfaye Teramah
- Winie Mapangou
- Gladys Nisame
- Memuna Darku
- Sheila Okah
- Adélaïde Koudougnon
Absah Gueye- Nandipha Mlomo
- Mapule Nteso
- Mwaka Kavena
- Ally Mosi
- Sweet Paul
Oliver Mbekeka- Annet Nankimbugwe
Christabel Muchindu- Pretty Phiri
Qualified teams
The following teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament1 |
|---|---|---|---|
 Nigeria | Hosts and defending champions | 19 March 2002 | 4 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000) |
| Angola | Winners against DR Congo | 11 October 2002 | 1 (1995) |
| Mali | Winners against Morocco | 11 October 2002 | Debut |
| South Africa | Winners against Zambia | 12 October 2002 | 3 (1995, 1998, 2000) |
| Cameroon | Winners against Gabon | 12 October 2002 | 3 (1991, 1998, 2000) |
| Ghana | Winners against Senegal | 12 October 2002 | 4 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000) |
| Ethiopia | Winners against Uganda | 13 October 2002 | Debut |
| Zimbabwe | Winners against Tanzania | 13 October 2002 | 1 (2000) |
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.