Portugal is one step away from making history, with the women’s soccer team facing Cameroon this Wednesday in the intercontinental playoff that could give the first qualification for a World Cup in this category.
The match will begin at 7:30 p.m. local time (6:30 a.m. in Lisbon), at the Waikato stadium, in New Zealand, where the team led by Francisco Neto beat the New Zealand team 5-0 on Friday, in a match preparation match.
For Portugal (22nd in the world ranking), the clash with Cameroon (58th) will be the most important in its history in women’s football, in a journey that has been growing and after having already been to two European Championships, in 2017 and 2022.
In qualifying for the 2023 World Cup, Portugal finished second in their group, behind Germany, and in the European play-offs they beat Belgium (now 20th in the ranking), 2-1, and Iceland (16th), by 4-1 after extra time.
A scenario that, even so, did not prevent him from having to play this intercontinental playoff, in which he will find Cameroon – who eliminated Thailand (2-0) on Saturday -, in the last obstacle before the World Cup.
Francisco Neto has the Portuguese team, which has seven consecutive victories between official and private matches, at 100%, while in Cameroon, coach Gabriel Zabo will not be able to field goalkeeper Ange Bawou, sent off against the Thais.
The match between Portugal and Cameroon corresponds to the final of Group A of the intercontinental playoffs.
The winner qualifies for the final phase and joins Group E Netherlands (match July 23), last World Cup silver medalists Vietnam (July 27) and defending champions United States (August 1).
The 2023 Women’s World Cup finals will take place in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.
Source: TSF
