The Cape Verde women’s national football team made history as they have been officially placed in the FIFA women’s world rankings for the very first time ever.
The milestone comes on the back of what has been a stellar year for the women of the west African island nation where they dazzled at the 2023 WAFU Zone A Women’s Cup, finishing as runners-up.
It was a tournament they stamped their authority with strong results by beating Guinea-Bissau 4-0 in their opening group stage match before thumping Mauritania 6-0. In the semi-finals, the Cape Verde ladies saw off the Gambia 2-1 before losing 1-0 to Senegal in the final.
While it might not disappointing to win the competition, it has to be noted that this was just the second-ever tournament the Cape Verde women are participating in. Their first tournament outing was at the 2020 edition of the WAFU Zone A Women’s Cup in Sierra Leone where they also did a decent job by finishing in fourth place.
They managed to finish behind Senegal in Group A but fell to a heavy 4-0 defeat by Mali in the semi-finals before losing 1-0 to Liberia in the third/fourth-place playoff.
Such improvement in the space of three years is a testament to the development of women’s football in Cape Verde where gender inequality, access to education and other societal stereotypes have denied girls the opportunity to participate in football and other sports.
However, moves have been made by the Cape Verdean Football Federation to develop a women’s football league and organise more football tournaments at both junior and senior levels.
The Cape Verde Women's National Football Team is now @FIFA ranked! ????????
Welcome to the global and African podiums, @fcfcomunica ladies. ????#EmpoweringOurGame pic.twitter.com/oqfeRjyBGG
— CAF Women’s Football (@CAFwomen) March 28, 2023
Cape Verde’s maiden global ranking puts them at 133rd out of 188 countries. They are above countries such as Singapore (134), Armenia (139), Lebanon (142) and Saudi Arabia (171). They are also ranked 20th in Africa above the likes of Sierra Leone (23), Angola (25), Kenya (28) and Mozambique (39).
Cape Verde’s performance at the 2023 WAFU Zone A Women’s Cup and entry into the FIFA women’s world ranking is a sign of progress that the country can be proud of, something echoed by the head coach Silveria Nedio.
“This is a victory for Cape Verde, for all Cape Verdean women and also a victory for the Cape Verdean Football Federation for believing in and betting on the development of women’s football,” Nedio said on the milestone.
The next step will be to qualify for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the future. There will also be opportunities for them to qualify for age-grade international competitions sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA.
Cape Verde’s meteoric rise in such a short space of time should also serve as motivation to other female footballers looking to make a name and career in the game.
Though the journey might be tough due to some of the aforementioned problems, the aim is to keep pushing consistently with the needed support and development until the breakthrough comes.
