The female football teams of West African rivals, Nigeria and Cameroon have both sealed qualification for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup after reaching the final of the African Women’s Championship, currently underway in Namibia.

The Super Falcons of Nigeria sealed a final berth with a well-deserved win over Bayana Bayana of South Africa in a 2-1 victory with Asisat Oshoala playing a leading role in the semi-final win. Oshoala, who was part of the Nigerian U20 female team that reached the final of the U20 Women’s World Cup in August, bagged two goals in the game against South Africa. Oshoala’s displays at the African Women’s Championships have not been much of a surprise after her excellent showing at the U20 Women’s World Cup where she bagged seven goals and snapped all major post-tournament awards including the prestigious Golden Shoe award for the highest goalscorer as well as the Golden Ball award reserved for the best player at the tournament.

Cameroon, on the other hand, had to wait on an extra-time victory over Ivory Coast to secure a place in the final where they will face the Super Falcons of Nigeria on October 25.

Cameroon opened scoring in the 60th minute with a goal from Sweden based Gaëlle Enganamouit but were soon pegged back after Tia Vino Ines N’Rehy notched the crucial equalizing goal for Ivory Coast. The game ended in a tie in regulation time and as a result, the match proceeded into extra time. The game carried on until Cameroonian skipper Christine Manie grabbed the winner with only two minutes left on the clock and with penalties looming.

As a result of the respective semi-final triumphs, the Cameroon and Nigerian national female teams will represent CAF at the FIFA 2015 Women’s World Cup which is scheduled to take place June 6 and July 5 next year. The Cameroonians and the Nigerians will be joined by the winner of the third place playoffs between losing semi-finalists South Africa and Ivory Coast following the increase in slots allocated to CAF from two to three. The third place playoffs are scheduled to take place on October 25 at the Sam Nujoma stadium in Windhoek.

CAF’s three representatives will be looking to stand tall against opponents from all over the world as the Women’s World Cup has been expanded to 24 participating teams from the last edition which featured only 16 teams.

The group stage draws for the 2015 Women’s World Cup on December 6 later this year.