Only Morocco, of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations favourites, have avoided an early setback during their WAFCON group stage campaign, with all of Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana falling to defeat in one of their fixtures so far.
It means none of the trio -- nor contenders Zambia -- are guaranteed progression as they head into their final group games, with each still having much work to do to advance to the quarterfinals and keep their World Cup hopes alive.
Here are the WAFCON permutations for reigning champions the Super Falcons, 2022 champions South Africa, and the rest of the teams from Groups B to D as they look to join Morocco and Algeria in the Last Eight over the coming days.
Group B - What do Banyana need?
Having lost their tournament opener 2-1 to minnows Tanzania, South Africa have given themselves a lot of work to do to progress.
They would have been in dire straits had they not launched a late comeback against the Ivory Coast in their second group game, falling 2-0 down before Thembi Kgatlana pulled one back in the 71st minute.
Hildah Magaia equalised in the 99th minute -- the latest goal scored in this year's tournament -- with Banyana arguably being let off the hook by the Ivorians' decision to rest wonderkid N'Sira Ouedraogo after going 2-0 up, losing the initiative in the process.
It leaves South Africa on one point heading into their final game, trailing Tanzania and Burkina Faso -- both on three -- as well as group leaders Ivory Coast.
They're certainly up against it, with only victory against Burkina Faso in their final group game enough to keep them in the running.
Desiree Ellis's side not only need to win, but they must defeat Burkina Faso and hope that the Ivory Coast beat Tanzania in order to leapfrog the Twiga Stars into second place in the group.
Victories for both South Africa and Tanzania would see the latter through as group winners, while Banyana must then ensure they better the Elephants' goal difference -- currently +3 compared to South Africa's minus 1 -- in order to progress.
Realistically, it would take landslide victory for South Africa in order to overhaul the West Africans in the event of a narrow Tanzania victory.
If Banyana win and the other match is a draw, the 2022 champions would be eliminated due to an inferior head-to-head record against Tanzania.
The Elephants' late collapse against Banyana denied them the chance to have already sealed qualification heading into their final group game, and they must now avoid defeat against Tanzania to guarantee progression.
For Burkina Faso, in third, a win would also ensure their spot in the knockouts, a draw, and they'd only progress in the event of an Ivorian victory over Tanzania.
Group C - Banda vs Chawinga sisters
Malawi may be the outsiders at the WAFCON -- ranked 153rd in the world before the tournament began -- but with consecutive victories in their opening games, they're threatening to become the Nations Cup's Cinderellas.
Indeed, a case can be made that the Scorchers' convincing 3-1 victory over Egypt on Saturday took them from WAFCON surprise packages to genuine title contenders, with NWSL star Temwa Chawinga utterly irresistible in attack.
However, despite six points from two games, they're not through yet, and would still be eliminated if they fall to Barbra Banda's Zambia in their final game, and Nigeria beat Egypt in Rabat.
This would leave all three teams on six points, and anything more than a victory by a one-goal winning margin by the Copper Queens would leave Malawi as the odd one out of the trio.
If Zambia win by a one-goal winning margin, then all three teams would be level on points and head-to-head points (assuming Nigeria beat Egypt) -- although the three goals Malawi scored against Nigeria should be enough to see them through.
A draw for Nigeria against Egypt would be enough to see them progress if Zambia fail to beat Malawi, while a draw for Zambia would be enough for them to join Malawi in the next round if Egypt can somehow find a way to dispatch the reigning champions.
For the Super Falcons, a victory would guarantee their place in the knockouts, although a draw and a Zambia victory would send Justine Madugu's side home in the opening round.
There is an (improbable) scenario where Egypt could qualify; they would need to hope Malawi beat Zambia and they would need to smash Nigeria 11-0 to qualify. It would certainly be a remarkable conclusion to a fascinating Group C!
It's a shame for this tournament that one of these exciting sides -- either the reigning champions, Barbra Banda's Zambia, or Chawinga's Malawi -- will need to go home at this stage of the tournament.
Group D - Do Ghana have a chance?
Unlike South Africa and Nigeria, Ghana won their opening WAFCON fixture -- downing Cape Verde 2-0 -- but were unable to build on that success as they fell to a feeble 1-0 defeat against Cameroon in their second group game in Casablanca on Sunday.
That win ensured that Cameroon became the first side to book their place in the knockouts, having taken six points from their opening two matches to take them beyond Ghana and Mali.
They already progress as group winners, and may opt to rest players for their final group game against already eliminated Cape Verde.
This means the Black Queens can take nothing for granted in their winner-takes-all showdown with Mali at the Moulay Rachid Stadium to round off their Group D campaign.
At least things are simple for Kim Bjorkegren's side; avoid defeat, and you're through, with only a victory for Mali being enough to take the Eagles above Ghana and into the knockouts alongside Cameroon.
Considering the Black Queens reached the semifinal last year, and had been tipped to get to the latter stages again, an early exit - and failure to reach the World Cup - would represent a significant step back for Bjorkegren and co.