| Tourney Name: | 2004 African Women's Championship qualification |
| Dates: | 29 May – 25 July 2004 |
| Num Teams: | 17 |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Matches: | 16 |
| Goals: | 72 |
| Top Scorer: |  Akua Anokyewaa Adjoa Bayor (6 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 2002 |
| Nextseason: | 2006 |
The 2004 African Women's Championship qualification process was organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2004 African Women's Championship. South Africa qualified automatically as hosts, while the remaining seven spots were determined by the qualifying rounds, which took place from May to July 2004.
From this tournament onwards, the defending champions does not receive automatic qualification.
A total of 17 national teams participated in the qualifying process.
Teams who withdrew are in italics.
| Round | Teams entering round | No. of teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary round | 6 | ||
| First round | 11 | ||
| Qualifying rounds | Total | 17 | |
| Final tournament |
| 1 |
Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).
The seven winners of the final round qualified for the final tournament.
The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows.
| Round | Leg | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminary round | First leg | 29–30 May 2004 |
| Second leg | 12 June 2004 | |
| First round | First leg | 10–11 July 2004 |
| Second leg | 23–25 July 2004 |
|}
Congo won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the first round.----
Malawi won by default and advanced to the first round.----
Tanzania won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the first round.
|}
Cameroon won 2–0 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.----
Ethiopia won 9–0 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.----
Zimbabwe won 7–0 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.----
Algeria won 3–2 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.----
Ghana won 22–0 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.----
1 The match was abandoned at the 76th minute after an officer from the riot police mistakenly fired tear gas which dispersed fans rushing to find an open space.[1]
Nigeria won 12–3 on aggregate and qualified for the final tournament.----Originally, DR Congo qualified for the final tournament after Gabon withdrew. DR Congo subsequently withdrew, meaning CAF were required to select a lucky loser to qualify for the final tournament.
| width=175 | Team | width=25 | width=25 | width=25 | width=25 | width=25 | width=25 | width=25 | width=25 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | −22 | 0 |
Mali, as the lucky loser, thus qualified for the final tournament.
Akua Anokyewaa and Adjoa Bayor, both from Ghana, were the top scorers of the qualifying process with 6 goals each.
Birtukan Gebrekirstos
Patience Avre Feleke Addis Anita Amenuku
Séraphine Mbida Marlyse Ngo Ndoumbouk Semira Kemal Helen Seifu Elizabeth Baidu Memuna Darku Gloria Foriwaa
Fatou Camara Diaty N'Diaye Ijeoma Obi Melkuleyi Titilayo Jerome Ulunma
Awa Diop Mamy N'Diaye Bathe Thiaw2 additional goals
1 additional goal
1 additional goal
The following teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | data-sort-type="number" | Previous appearances in tournament1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hosts | 12 December 2003[2] | 4 (1995, 1998, 2000, 2002) | ||
| 23 July 2004 | Debut | |||
| 24 July 2004 | 5 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002) | |||
| 24 July 2004 | 5 (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002) | |||
| 25 July 2004 | 4 (1991, 1998, 2000, 2002) | |||
| 25 July 2004 | 1 (2002) | |||
| 25 July 2004 | 2 (2000, 2002) | |||
| July–August 2004 | 1 (2002) |
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.