The Tanzanite Queens go into the Group B finale without a point after suffering defeats to Brazil and England
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s U-20 women’s national football team, the Tanzanite Queens, face a must-win clash against Canada tomorrow knowing that victory alone may not be enough to secure a place in the last 16 of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland.
The Tanzanite Queens go into the Group B finale without a point after suffering defeats to Brazil and England, but their hopes of progressing remain mathematically alive through the four best third-placed slots. The top two teams from each of the six groups qualify automatically for the knockout stage, with the remaining four places going to the best third-placed teams.
Tanzania currently occupy fourth place in Group B after losing 4-1 to Brazil in their opening match before England inflicted a 5-1 defeat on them on Tuesday.
The results leave them with two goals scored, nine conceded and a goal difference of minus seven.
Brazil have already secured top spot with six points, while England are second on four. Canada are third on one point after drawing 1-1 with England before losing 3-0 to Brazil.
A victory against Canada would take the Tanzanite Queens to three points, but their poor goal difference means they would then have to wait for results from the other groups before knowing whether they have done enough to qualify.
The current third-place calculations underline the difficulty of the task. In Group A, Mexico and Benin have one point each, while Canada are currently the third-placed team in Group B on one point. South Korea and France also began the tournament with one point each in Group C, while several other teams, including New Zealand, USA, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Ghana, Portugal and New Caledonia, were yet to collect a point at the time of the latest standings. The picture will become clearer as Groups C, D, E and F complete their remaining matches. Consequently, even three points against Canada could leave Tanzania competing on goal difference with other teams that finish third on the same number of points.
Coach Bakari Shime, however, insists the heavy defeats have not ended his team's ambition. “We still have a chance,” said Shime, maintaining that the players must focus on the Canada encounter despite the setbacks against Brazil and England.
The coach has reason to point to the team's resilience. Against Brazil, Tanzania were competitive for long periods and even went into half-time level at 1-1 before conceding three second-half goals.
Against England, however, the Tanzanite Queens struggled to contain their opponents, with Rachel Maltby scoring a hat-trick as the Young Lionesses ran out 5-1 winners. Jamila Rajabu scored Tanzania’s consolation goal.
Canada, meanwhile, have their own motivation. Their 3-0 defeat to Brazil left them on one point and also means they must beat Tanzania to strengthen their own knockout hopes.
