(Reuters) – Haiti secured a place at the upcoming Women’s World Cup after defeating Chile 2-1 in the final qualifying playoffs on Wednesday as Melchie Dumonay scored twice at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.
Dumonay opened the scoring with a powerful strike at the stroke of half time and added another in stoppage time with a low shot into the bottom corner. Maria Rojas found the net for Chile soon after but it proved to be a consolation goal.
Cameroon will face Portugal at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton later on Wednesday and Panama will face Paraguay at the same venue on Thursday in the other two playoffs for the July 20-Aug. 20 World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.
This year’s World Cup, where the United States are the defending champions, will be the first edition to feature 32 teams.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
