The fate of Edo Queens in the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League will be decided in Cairo, not Ouagadougou. CAF has moved the outstanding portion of the WAFU-B qualifying final against Ghana’s Ampem Darkoa Ladies to the Egyptian capital, where the two sides will meet on Thursday, October 29, with a place among Africa’s elite on the line.

The match, originally scheduled for October 24 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, will resume from the start of extra time with the score at 2-2. Two 15-minute periods will be played, and if neither side prevails, a penalty shoot-out will determine the winner. CAF has also confirmed that match officials different from those who handled the original fixture will take charge, offering both teams a fresh chance to settle the dispute on the field.

The winner will take the WAFU-B slot in Group B of the tournament, which runs in Cairo from November 1 to 15, alongside Morocco’s AS FAR, USFAS Bamako of Mali and Uganda’s Kawempe Muslim Ladies. With the main event kicking off just days after the replay and in the same city, there will be little time for celebration or recovery. Both teams must adjust to a new environment while preparing for a demanding continental campaign.

The venue change adds another twist to one of the most unusual qualifying finals in the competition’s history. On September 5 in Ouagadougou, Edo Queens and Ampem Darkoa drew 2-2 in regulation time, and the Nigerians won 4-1 on penalties, appearing to have secured the WAFU-B ticket. The celebration was short-lived. Ampem Darkoa protested that the final should not have gone straight to a shoot-out, arguing that the regulations required 30 minutes of extra time first.

CAF’s Organising Committee for Women’s Football upheld the protest on September 26 and annulled the shoot-out. The Nigeria Football Federation challenged the ruling, insisting that Edo Queens, who neither organised the match nor determined how the officials applied the rules, should not bear the consequences of a procedural error. The club had simply followed the instructions of the appointed officials.

The CAF Appeal Board rejected that appeal in a ruling dated October 16. It held that any irregularity in the initial proceedings had been remedied by allowing both clubs to present their cases, in line with Article 59(1) of the CAF Disciplinary Code, and directed both sides to resume the final at 2-2.

Edo Queens General Manager Rolandson Odeh said the club accepted the outcome after consulting its board, the Edo State Government and the NFF.

 “We are going to Cairo with one objective, and that is to win and secure our place in the CAF Women’s Champions League,” he told The Nation. “We have accepted CAF’s decision in the interest of peace, but our ambition has not changed. We want to finish the job and make Nigeria and Edo State proud.”

Odeh said the players are “pumped up and determined,” and confirmed that the team departs for Cairo on Monday, October 26, giving it time to prepare for the decisive encounter.

That preparation will not be straightforward. Oluebube Umejiaku, Oluwakemi Adegbuyi and Precious Oscar are on national duty with Nigeria’s Flamingos at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, along with other players who were on the pitch when the first encounter ended. Their absence forces the technical crew to reshuffle its options. Odeh declined to disclose the plans, calling it a technical matter best addressed in Egypt. “What I can assure Nigerians is that Edo Queens will field 11 players on the day of the game,” he said. “We cannot afford to dwell on those who are unavailable; we must concentrate on those who will be there.”

The Ghanaian side has already shown it can compete with the Nigerians, and the 2-2 scoreline suggests the resumption could be tight. The extra 30 minutes will demand considerable physical and mental strength, and the prospect of penalties means both teams must stay composed until the final kick.

For Edo Queens, victory would provide sporting vindication and a return to the continental stage for the second time since 2024. For Ampem Darkoa, it would turn a successful protest into qualification. Either way, the outcome will now be settled in  Cairo.