2022 CAF Women's CL: Simba Queens face tough opener in Morocco

Tanzanian giants Simba Queens have a huge mountain to climb in their opening match of the 2022 CAF Women’s Champions League tournament kicking off on Sunday in Morocco as they are set to come up against home side AS FAR who finished third in last year’s inaugural edition of the competition.

The match will also be Simba’s first ever encounter on the continental stage as the Tanzanian outfit missed out on qualification to the inaugural tournament held in Egypt back in 2021. Queens reached their first CAF WCL by winning the CECAFA Women’s CAF Champions League where they defeated She Corporate 1-0 in the final.

Having won the last three Tanzanian domestic league titles, Simba Queens, home to Kenyan internationals Corazone Aquino and Topister Situma, will be looking to reach the semifinals and become the first East African team to do so after Kenya’s Vihiga Queens, who represented the CECAFA region last year, were eliminated in the group stages.

On the other hand, AS FAR, who will be taking part in their second consecutive tournament, will be looking to be crowned African champions and emulate their men’s team who were winners of the African Club of Champions Cup in 1985 and the 2005 CAF Confederation Cup.

Simba face a daunting task as AS FAR are the record 13 times Moroccan Women’s Championship winners and have won the last seven Moroccan top- flight titles beginning in 2015-16.

The match kicks off at 2200EAT.

In the opening match of the tournament, debutants Green Buffaloes from Zimbabwe will take on fellow first timers Determine Girls from Liberia in the Group A action.

Buffaloes qualified for the tournament in Morocco after winning the 2022 COSAFA Women’s Champions League held in the South African City of Durban in August.

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Double champions of the Liberian Women’s First division, Determine Girls Came through the WAFU Zone A qualifiers which were staged in Liberia to reach Morocco.

Their match kicks off at 1900EAT.

Group B matches will be played on Monday evening where defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns will begin their title defense against Nigeria’s Bayelsa Queens as Egypt’s Wadi Degla take on TP Mazembe in the other clash.

Two teams from each group will advance to the semi finals of the competition with the finals slated for Sunday 13 November at the Stade Moulay Hassan.

Reigning champions Mamelodi Sundowns will be hoping to rewrite history as they look to become the only club that has won the tournament since its inception in 2021.

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Group A: AS FAR, Simba Queens, Green Buffaloes, Determine Girls

Group B: Mamelodi Sundowns, Bayelsa Queens, Wadi Degla, TP Mazembe