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CAMEROON earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory against Thailand as the final qualifying playoffs for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup began in New Zealand on Saturday.
Haiti also stormed to a 4-0 win over Senegal in the same competition.
Cameroon will now face Portugal in Hamilton on Wednesday and Haiti will take on Chile in Auckland on the same day to secure two of the three remaining spots.
The competition is scheduled for July 20 to Aug. 20 in New Zealand and Australia.
Four other teams will play a straight-forward knockout tournament starting on Sunday when Taiwan take on Paraguay in Hamilton and Papua New Guinea face Panama in Auckland.
The two winners will meet on Thursday in a game that will decide the final qualifier.
Cameroon, who reached the last 16 at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, triumphed at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton following two late goals from substitute Gabrielle Onguene.
But it was a chaotic match that featured 24 minutes of added time.
Onguene opened the scoring in the 79th minute by connecting with a squared pass from Ajara Nchout, before wrapping up the victory with another sublime strike three minutes later.
Cameroon were reduced to 10 players deep into stoppage time when goalkeeper Ange Bawou was sent off after a lengthy VAR check for a foul on Jiraporn Mongkoldee.
Bawou, who came off her line and collided with the onrushing Mongkoldee, will miss Cameroon’s clash with Portugal.
Earlier, Haiti earned a comprehensive win after Roselord Borgella scored twice while Kethna Louis and Nerilia Mondesir bagged a goal each at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.
Haiti took the lead in the 45th minute after defender Louis rose highest to head in a corner-kick taken by midfielder Sherly Jeudy.
Team captain Mondesir made it 2-0 in the 55th minute after slotting home a cross from fellow forward Melchie Dumonay.
Borgella scored the third in the 64th minute with a brilliant effort, before adding another within two minutes to seal the win.
Haiti are looking to qualify for the Women’s World Cup for the first time.
This year’s World Cup, where the U.S. are defending champions, will be the first edition to feature 32 teams.(Reuters/NAN)
Tags: FIFA Women’s World Cup
