CAF expands WAFCON to 16 teams for 2026 edition

CAF expands WAFCON to 16 teams for 2026 edition

The TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) will now feature 16 teams instead of just 12, according to the Confederation of African Football.The 2026 edition will be held in Morocco from March 17 to April 3, 2026.Four of the continent’s traditional powerhouses—Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Egypt—will once again compete in the prestigious Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).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.

Source: CAF expands WAFCON to 16 teams for 2026 edition

 - NigerianEye

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