The Botswana women’s national football team ‘The Mares’ hopes of proceeding to the quarter finals of the on-going CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) have been dashed after Ghana’s 4-1 victory over Tanzania.
Botswana was eliminated after Ghana’s display against Tanzania, which pitted Mali ahead of Senegal among the third-best teams.
Four teams: Botswana, DR Congo, Tunisia and Tanzania have been eliminated from the competition which started on the 5th and expected to end on the 26th July 2025 in Morocco.
The Mares were drawn into Group B of the tournament and lost their first match 1-0 over Algeria on the 06 July 2025 at Père Jégo Stadium in Casablanca. In their second game that was held on 10 July 2025, The Mares were walloped 1-0 by Nigeria at Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca.
The Mares won their last game 2-1 against Tunisia in a thrilling encounter on the 13 July 2025 at Père Jégo Stadium in Casablanca. Despite being eliminated from the competition, Botswana showcased resilience, memorable performance and unwavering determination.
In an interview, Local Sports Analyst Jimmy George expressed the view that going forward the team need to develop plans and players, to arrange lots of games and to promote some players into the team in order to reintegrate it. He noted that there it is very important for Botswana to keep the current technical team, encourage the team to work together and empower it.
George stated that the team consists of relatively young, experienced players and some of them have played WAFCON for the second time, but the most unfortunate is that The Mares will not play the next coming WAFCON and the World cup.
‘‘It is heart breaking, but I think we should not beat ourselves too much because we have a very good team, I think we got it wrong in the first game, we did not play to our potential in attacking Algeria, we could have looked ahead to fight for the second spot with one of the team in the group and prevent loss by all means,’’ he said.
The team’s Head Coach Alex Malete had previously indicated during the team’s send-off Ceremony that was held in Gaborone recently that his players have what it takes to compete and they have shown it countless times, stating that the team is not only built on talent but it is also built on unity and resilience.
He had indicated that they have created a sustainable environment for the team that can sustain success, which is a process that is very difficult to achieve
‘‘I can assure you that we will give everything that we have and surely we will do it, we leave with one mission to compete fiercely, represent honourably and return proudly,’’ said Malete.
The eight teams that have qualified for the WAFCON quarter finals are Morocco, Zambia, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Mali. The tournament had moved into the knockout phase which starts on the 18th July 2025 Friday, to determine teams that will earn a place in the semi-finals.
