Sports
CAF expands WAFCON to 16 teams ahead of 2026 Morocco Tournament
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced an expansion of the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) from 12 to 16 teams, marking a major milestone in the development of women’s football on the continent.
The 2026 edition of the competition is scheduled to take place in Morocco from March 17 to April 3, 2026.
This expansion will see more African nations participate in the prestigious tournament, which has grown significantly in popularity and competitiveness in recent years.
Among the teams set to feature in the upcoming event are four traditional powerhouses Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Egypt who will once again vie for continental glory.
The new format reflects CAF’s commitment to promoting inclusivity and providing more opportunities for women’s teams across Africa to compete at the highest level.
The decision is in line with CAF’s strategic objective to boost competitiveness and quicken the growth of women’s football throughout the continent, the organisation said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday.
The statement reads, “As the qualification phase for the 2026 edition has already been completed, the Executive Committee has approved the selection mechanism to determine the four additional Teams.
“Based on the current FIFA Women’s World Rankings, the top four teams from those eliminated in the final qualifying round have been selected to complete the list of participants.
“The following teams will therefore join the finals of the TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON Morocco 2026: Cameroon (66th in the FIFA ranking), Cote d’Ivoire (71), Mali (79), and Egypt (95),” the body added.
These four teams would join holders Nigeria, past champions South Africa, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia – all of whom have qualified.
Morocco are the team to complete this number, and they are in the tournament as they are the host nation.
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