The Women’s World Cup is upon us once again, with teams from all around the world converging on Australia and New Zealand looking to win the biggest prize in women’s football.
This includes teams from Africa, where for the first time four teams from the continent will be competing at the tournament.
There are a mix of World Cup veterans and debutant teams looking to shock the footballing world.
The Sporting News takes a look at which African sides have had the best performances at past Women’s World Cup’s, and whether the teams are well placed to break records once the action begins.
MORE: Which teams have qualified for 2023 Women’s World Cup?
African teams at FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023
The four African sides that qualified for the 2023 Women’s World Cup are Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco and Zambia.
Nigeria have qualified for every World Cup though have a difficult group with Australia and Canada, whilst South Africa have qualified for their second tournament in a row.
Morocco and Zambia qualified for the tournament for the first time ever, with Morocco being the first side from the Arab world to qualify for the tournament. Meanwhile, Zambia becomes the first African side from a landlocked country to qualify for any FIFA World Cup both men’s and women’s.
| Team | How did they qualify? | All-time World Cup appearances | Odds to win (BetMGM) | Odds to win (Dafabet) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 2022 Women’s African Cup of Nations Quarterfinal winners | 9 | 250/1 | +50000 |
| South Africa | 2022 Women’s African Cup of Nations Quarterfinal winners | 2 | 500/1 | +50000 |
| Zambia | 2022 Women’s African Cup of Nations Quarterfinal winners | 1 | 400/1 | +50000 |
| Morocco | 2022 Women’s African Cup of Nations Quarterfinal winners | 1 | 500/1 | +50000 |
Odds correct as of July 14, 2023
Has an African nation ever won Women’s World Cup?
In the previous eight editions of the tournament, no African side has ever won the Women’s World Cup.
Additionally, even when African sides have made the knockout rounds of the tournament, none have been able to win a knockout game at the Women’s World Cup.
Only four countries have won the Women’s World Cup, with USA (four titles), Germany (two titles), Norway and Japan (one title each) having tasted World Cup glory.
This means that teams from the Asian, Oceania, African and South American confederations have never won the tournament.
Best Women’s World Cup finish by an African nation
The best ever Women’s World Cup performance by an African side was seen by Nigeria at the 1999 World Cup, where they reached the quarterfinals.
Despite losing 7-1 to hosts and eventual tournament winners USA in the group stages, they won their other two matches against Denmark and North Korea (both 3-0) to advance to the quarterfinals.
They came up against heavyweights Brazil and were involved in a highly exciting encounter that saw Nigeria come back from 3-0 down to take the game to extra-time.
It would ultimately end in heartbreak, though, as Brazil scored a golden goal through Sissi that saw them advance to the semifinals.
African teams at Women’s World Cup
African teams have been present at every tournament, with the number of African sides at a given tournament increasing as the competition has grown in numbers.
From just one side in the first two editions, this increased to two teams from 1999, to three teams in 2015 and finally to four teams seen at the upcoming edition thanks to the expansion to a 32 team format.
Overall, eight different African countries have qualified for the tournament over the years.
| Team | Appearances | Years | Best finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon | 2 | 2015, 2019 | Round of 16 (2015, 2019) |
| Equatorial Guinea | 1 | 2011 | Group Stage (2011) |
| Ghana | 3 | 1999, 2003, 2007 | Group Stage (1999, 2003, 2007) |
| Ivory Coast | 1 | 2015 | Group Stage (2015) |
| Morocco | 1 | 2023 | N/A |
| Nigeria | 9 | 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023 | Quarterfinals (1999) |
| South Africa | 2 | 2019, 2023 | Group Stage (2019) |
| Zambia | 1 | 2023 | N/A |
How many World Cup spots for Africa in 2023?
As previously mentioned, this World Cup has the highest amount of African nations participating in tournament history.
The four nations that qualified earned the right to do so through winning their quarterfinal matches at the continental championship, the Women’s African Cup of Nations.
There was even a chance that an unprecedented six African sides would have participated in the tournament, with both Cameroon and Senegal qualifying for the Intercontinental playoffs that took place in New Zealand earlier this year. However, neither of those sides was able to qualify as they lost to Portugal and Haiti, respectively.
The distribution of teams in the World Cup by confederation looks like this:
- AFC (Asia): Australia, China, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea
- CONCACAF (North and Central America): USA, Canada, Haiti, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama
- UEFA (Europe): England, Denmark, Italy, France, Republic of Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden
- CAF (Africa): Nigeria, Morocco, Zambia, South Africa
- COMNEBOL (South America): Brazil, Argentina, Colombia
- OFC (Oceania): New Zealand
