Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu

Morocco and Zambia are making their Fifa Women’s World Cup debut in 2023. South Africa must recover their morale after a pay dispute and Nigeria once again leads the charge for the continent.

The tournament, hosted by Australia and New Zealand, is being held in the southern hemisphere for the first time – from 20 July until 20 August.

It has expanded this year, with 32 nations competing for the trophy instead of 24. This opens up opportunities for new teams to reach the knockout phase (final 16) of the tournament.

As a professor and scholar of sport science with a strong research focus on African football, I have been following the growing women’s game on the continent with interest.

Although the four African teams to qualify are not among the favourites to lift the World Cup trophy, there’s a strong chance one of them could