Ethiopia suffer defeat away to Morocco in FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifier

Hosts Morocco have stopped Ethiopia 2-0 in the first leg of the first round of the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifier.

A goal in each half was enough to give the hosts advantage in a match played at the Ben M’Hamd El Abdi Stadium in El Jadida on Saturday.

Jassimine Zouhir gave Morocco the lead after 10 minutes, but Ethiopia fought back with Messay Temesgen and Nigist Bekele getting some chances, but failed to put them away. After recess Ambre Basser made it 2-0 for the hosts after 51 minutes.

But Firew Hailegebriel, the Ethiopian head coach said hope is not lost yet as they can turn the scores in the return leg on January 21st in Addis Ababa. ” We still have a chance and we must work hard to use the home advantage, ” added the coach.

Ethiopia qualified for the final round of the qualifiers after seeing off Mali 6-0 o aggregate in the third round of the qualifiers.

In the other matches played on Saturday Ghana picked a 2-0 win away to Senegal, while Cameroon stopped hosts Egypt 4-2 on Friday.

On Sunday another team from the CECAFA Zone Burundi will host Nigeria at the Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The four winning teams after their round will automatically qualify to represent Africa at the for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup to take place in Colombia.