With every African nation having now got their respective 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup campaigns underway, here are six stars from the continent who are likely to be key for their teams at the global showpiece.
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All four of Africa's representatives have now played at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and while none of them were able to grab a victory in their opening group games, the world got to see who some of the very best from the continent are.
Asisat Oshoala
Nigeria are making their record ninth appearance at the global showpiece, and the Super Falcons have taken with them Barcelona star Asisat Oshoala. The 28-year-old is one of the most feared forwards in world football leading the line for the Catalan giants and with her, the west Africans will be hoping to make it past the quarter-finals for the first time. They are the only African side to avoid defeat in their opening group-stage game following their 0-0 draw with Canada, but the record African champions will have to do better in involving the physically imposing striker in the game if they are to be successful.
Linda Motlhalo
Linda Motlhalo is one of South Africa's best players and has been an important player for the national team ever since emerging as a teenager. The attacker scored a stoppage-time penalty in the semi-final of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in 2022, helping Banyana Banyana progress to the final where they won against Morocco. She struggled to make an impact during their 2-1 loss to Sweden on Sunday, but she will undoubtedly continue to be a big player during the competition for the African champions.
Thembi Kgatlana
Kgatlana missed most of South Africa's journey to WAFCON triumph after she ruptured her Achilles early on in the tournament against Botswana. Her teammates managed to reach the summit of African football without her, but at the World Cup, Kgatlana will be looking to contribute to the side's success on the pitch. It was her run in behind and shot on goal that ultimately led to Hildah Magaia opening the scoring against the Swedes, and the former Atletico Madrid player will be looking to make a big impact for Desiree Ellis' team.
Barbra Banda
Banda is one of the most captivating players at the tournament. The only woman to ever score back-to-back hat-tricks at the Olympic Games, the 23-year-old controversially missed out on participating at the most recent WAFCON. It was proposed that the Copper Queens' captain failed a gender eligibility test and she consequently missed African football's premier tournament. FIFA ruled that she was, in fact, eligible to play women's football after the fact, however, and now she has returned to the international stage to continue where she left off. The Zambians were decimated by Japan 5-0 in their opening group game, but having beaten one of the competition favourites, Germany, in a pre-tournament friendly 3-2 courtesy of a Banda brace, there is every possibility that the southern Africans can turn their fortunes around.
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Racheal Kundananji
Another star of Zambia's dramatic 3-2 victory over Germany was Kundananji. The 23-year-old is coming off a prolific season with Madrid CFF, scoring 23 goals in 29 matches for the Spanish outfit, as per footballdatabase.eu. She will be looking to continue that form at the World Cup, but Zambia will have to do better than make their star player defend for most of the match as they did against the Japanese.
Ghizlane Chebbak
The Morocco captain is a big reason why the north Africans were able to qualify for their maiden FIFA World Cup. Her industry and ability to dictate the pace of a game from midfield are just some of the reasons the Atlas Lionesses made it to the WAFCON final. Similar to her Zambian counterparts, however, Morocco were on the receiving end of a massive 6-0 thumping by Germany on Monday morning. She is the only player among those mentioned who still plies her trade in Africa, for AS FAR, but while she was able to show her quality and technical ability against the Germans, she was physically outmatched in that game.
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