The Ethiopia women's national side defeated Uganda 5-4 on penalties following Wednesday's 2-0 second leg victory to progress to the second round of 2026 Women's African Cup of Nations qualifying.
Yoseph Gebreweld’s charges struck twice in the second half to successfully overturn a 2-0 first leg defeat and take the tie to penalties at the Abebe Bikila Memorial Stadium in Addis Ababa. Lucy, as the Ethiopian team is popularly called, were better in possessing the ball as the Crested Cranes opted for a defensive approach.
The first half saw few scoring chances for both nations with Ethiopia coming close when Senaf Wakquma rattled the bar while the visitors had their best chance from the opening 45 minutes through striker Fazila Ikwaput.
After the resumption, a second yellow earned by Ikwaput left Uganda in trouble as the home side took advantage of their numerical superiority. Aregash Kalasa opened the scoring for Ethiopia in the 66th minute before Estegent Girma made it 2-2 on aggregate in the last touch of regulation through a wonderful freekick.
Uganda missed two penalties as Ethiopian goalie Tarikuwa Bergena saved the last penalty from the Crested Cranes' Agnes Nabukenya.
Ethiopia will face the winner of Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania in the second and final qualifying round. Tanzania won the first leg 3-1 at home and the teams meet in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea later on Wednesday.
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