7 February 2018 – Due to unforeseen circumstances, Trinidad and Tobago has withdrawn from the 2018 Cyprus Women’s Cup scheduled for 26 February to 7 March. They have now been replaced by Korea DPR, who are ranked 11th in the world.
Trinidad and Tobago had been drawn in Group C at the tournament alongside the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana as well as Hungary and Slovakia.
This year marks the 11th edition of the tournament which involves 12 women’s national teams from around the world and is held in Cyprus. The matches are played in the cities of Nicosia, Paralimni and Larnaca.
South Africa will be making their sixth appearance while Slovakia, Hungary and Korea DPR, will be making their 1st, 3rd and 2nd appearances respectively. Finland, Switzerland, Italy and Wales have been drawn in Group A, while Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic and Spain are in Group B.
For the fixtures, Korea DPR will slot in the place vacated by Trinidad and Tobago. In their opening match, Banyana Banyana will take on Slovakia on Wednesday, 28 February at 13h00. Two days later, they will be up against Hungary on Friday, 2 March at 18h00.
In the last group stage clash, South Africa will lock horns with Korea DPR on Monday, 5 March at 13h00. Banyana Banyana will go into camp on Thursday, 22 February and depart for Cyprus on Saturday, 24 February.
The Cyprus Women’s Cup uses the following two-phase format:The first phase is a group stage in which the twelve invited teams are divided into three groups of four teams. Similar to the Algarve Cup, the teams in Group A and Group B consist of higher-ranked teams and are the only teams actually in contention for the championship
Group C consists of lower-ranked teams. Each group plays a round robin of six games, with each team playing one match against each of the other teams in the same group. The second phase is a single “finals day” in which six games involving all twelve teams are played to determine the tournament’s final standings.
The match-ups are as follows:
1st place match: Winners of Groups A and B.
3rd place match: Winner of Group C and best runner-up from Groups A and B.
5th place match: Runners-up in Group C and second-best runners-up from Groups A and B.
7th place match: Third-place teams in Groups A and B.
9th place match: Third-place team in Group C and best fourth-place team from Groups A and B.
11th place match: Fourth-place team in Group C and second-best fourth-place team from Groups A and B.
NB: Depending on the position in our group, the bold in red are the positions we are able to play for.
RANKINGS OF TEAMS AT THE 2018 CYPRUS WOMENS CUP
GROUP A GROUP B GROUP C
Finland -28 Belgium -22 Slovakia -47
Wales -35 Czech Republic -34 South Africa -54
Italy -17 Austria -21 Hungary -43
Switzerland -17 Spain -13 Korea DPR -11
Korea DPR replaced 48th ranked Trinidad and Tobago
Banyana Banyana Fixtures:
28 February:
Slovakia vs South Africa
13h00
2 March:
South Africa vs Hungary
18h00
5 March:
South Africa vs Korea DPR
13h00
FINAL’S DAY:
Wed 07 March:
11/12th Place
9/10th Place
7/8th Place
5/6th Place
3/4th Place
1/2nd Place
For full fixtures click here: