Ghana will battle South Africa in the third round of the African qualifiers to the Costa Rica 2022 Under-20 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
After enjoying a walkover due to the withdrawal of Mauritania, the Black Princesses were believed to be facing next, the winner of the Zambia-Malawi tie which went the way of the former.
But in a complete departure from the usual path, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) on Thursday sprang a surprise with the release of a different set of pairings for the third round – a secret draw appears to have been held on the blindside.
Per the released fixtures, Ghana and South Africa will, instead, slug things out in a two-legged affair later in December.
Coach Baba Nuhu Mallam’s Princesses will play away first on the weekend of 2-4 December before hosting the return leg on the weekend of 16-18 December.
Two more rounds follow after which two teams will emerge as the representatives of Africa at Costa Rica 2022.
The pairings:
First Leg (2, 3 & 4 December 2021)
Tanzania vs Ethiopia
South Africa vs Ghana
Morocco vs Senegal
Cameroon vs Nigeria
Botswana vs Uganda
Zambia vs Congo
Burundi vs Gambia
Guinea vs Gabon
Second Leg (16, 17 & 18 December 2021)
Ethiopia vs Tanzania
Ghana vs South Africa
Senegal vs Morocco
Nigeria vs Cameroon
Uganda vs Botswana
Congo vs Zambia
Gambia vs Burundi
Gabon vs Guinea
