The Uganda Senior Women’s National Team, the Crested Cranes, lost 2-1 to Algeria in the first leg of the 2024 TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers at the FUFA Technical Centre in Njeru on Wednesday evening.
Second-half goals from Imaine Chabel and Habiba Karchouni gave Algeria the first-leg advantage, while Fauzia Najjemba scored a consolation goal for Uganda from the penalty spot.
Both sides played to a highly contested first half, but neither team was able to create any clear-cut chances.
Algeria took the lead in the 50th minute through Chabel, who headed home a corner kick. Three minutes later, Karchouni doubled Algeria’s lead with a powerful shot from outside the box.
Uganda had their best chance of the game in the 75th minute when Nabweteme‘s shot hit the crossbar.
Nababiwon a penalty for Uganda in the 89th minute after being fouled in the box, and Najjemba calmly converted the spot kick to make it 2-1.
Nabbumba nearly equalized in the dying minutes of the game, but her header from Nambi‘s cross hit a defender and went wide.
Ayub Khalifah’s team will now need to travel to Algeria and win the return leg by a two-goal margin, or at least 2-1 to force extra time and penalties, in order to advance to the next round.
The second leg of the tie will be played in Oran, Algeria on September 26, 2023. The winner of the tie will face either Burundi or Ethiopia in the second round.
