TANZANIA U-17 National Women team Serengeti Girls have advanced to the final qualifier round for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup finals after recording a 5-2 aggregate victory against Burundi.
Tanzania will then face Cameroon to seal one of the three tickets for Africa's representation in the World Cup finals in the last round.
Other teams in this round are Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana and Morocco.
Ethiopia will play against Nigeria and Ghana will face Morocco to secure the two remaining tickets.
Serengeti Girls had a downhill task over Burundians following their 4-0 victory in the first leg last month in Burundi.
In the return leg, Burundi won against their host Tanzania 2-1 at Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar; despite Burundi winning, the Tanzanian ladies progressed to the third and final round after banking a 5-2 aggregate win.
Following the victory, Coach Bakari Shime hailed his players on their success.
After the game, Shime noted, "I congratulate my players for showing exceptional performance in the away and home game.
I made many changes, allowing most key players to rest and use those who did not play in Burundi. Our goal was to advance to the final stage, and we have achieved the plan."
Shime urged Tanzanians to have faith in their players and that they are committed to making Tanzanians proud.
Hence they call for support from all football fans. They applauded TFF and the government for their effort to support the country.
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The Serengeti Girls returned on Monday from Zanzibar and headed to Karatu, Arusha, to prepare for Cameroon.
Cameroon whipped Zambia 5-0.
The first leg of the final round will be on May 19th, 20th or 21st in Cameroon before the return leg in Tanzania in June.
Africa will be represented by three teams in the World Cup Finals, which will take place in India from October 11-30 this year.
Serengeti Girls striker Clara Luvanga leads the 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup scoring chart for Africa qualifiers.
She has so far netted seven goals to keep commanding the scorers' list.
Luvanga has therefore overshadowed Yasmine Zouhir of Morocco and Opeyemi Ajakaye from Nigeria who have each scored five goals so far in the competition to help their teams reach into the last pair of qualifying games.
Also, Tanzanian Neema Paul and Djennah Cherif of Morocco are present on the scoreboard after netting four goals apiece to enable their flag carrier sides to move ahead.
With three goals are Aisha Juma (Tanzania), Omowunmi Bello (Nigeria), Doha El Madani (Morocco), Fatoumata Samoura (Guinea), Georgina Aoyem (Ghana) and Camila Daha (Cameroon).
Meanwhile, the Minister for Culture, Arts and Sports, Mohamed Mchengerwa has hailed the team for successfully advancing into the last stage of the World Cup qualifiers.
Mchengerwa said his ministry will continue issuing support to the national team and ensure the players have a favourable environment in the camp.
