The 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, commonly referred to as WAFCON 2026, was the 14th edition (16th if editions of the tournament without hosts are included) of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international football championship organised by Confederation of African Football for the women's national teams of Africa.
The tournament was played in Morocco for the third consecutive edition becoming the first country to achieve this feat. Venues in Casablanca, Fez and Rabat were used for the tournament.
Despite originally being planned to be a 12 team tournament, CAF decided to expand the tournament to 16 teams after qualification ended. Qualification took place between February and October 2025 to decide who qualified, while hosts Morocco qualified automatically. Cape Verde and Malawi both made their debuts.
The tournament also doubled as the African qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil. The top four teams qualified for the World Cup, while two more teams advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Nigeria were the defending champions, having beaten Morocco 3–2 in the 2024 final in Rabat. They failed to defend the title after losing 1–0 to eventual champions Cameroon in the quarter-finals. Nigeria, who had their worst ever WAFCON after failing to make the semi-finals for the first time ever, also failed to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time in their history. Cameroon won their first title, and became only the fourth team to win the tournament, after beating debutants Malawi in the final.
Host selection – Morocco expressed an interest in hosting the tournament after organizing the previous two tournaments in 2022 and 2024. – In November 2022, Tanzania Football Federation president, Wallace Karia, stated they could host the tournament, with venues in Mbeya, Arusha, Tanga, Tabora, Dodoma and Mwanza being touted as possible venues. This would have been Tanzania's first time hosting and first time the event was held in East Africa.
On 17 October 2024, Morocco were confirmed as hosts for the third consecutive time, becoming the first country to host three editions in a row and the third overall to host the tournament three times, alongside South Africa and Nigeria.
Hosting problems The South Africa Deputy Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Bertha Peace Mabe, announced on 1 February 2026 that they would host after Morocco withdrew as hosts. However, the South Africa Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, refuted the claim two days later, stating that Peace Mabe had been misunderstood, that Morocco remained the host, and that South Africa had indicated a willingness to host if necessary. On 13 February 2026, CAF president, Patrice Motsepe, reaffirmed that Morocco were still the hosts due to the fact that the other nations interested in hosting wanted to change the dates, which the federation strongly opposed. On 5 March 2026, the CAF announced the tournament was postponed to 25 July – 16 August 2026.
Qualification
A total of 39 CAF member nations entered the competition. With hosts Morocco automatically qualified, the remaining 38 teams contested two qualifying rounds to decide the other 11 places in the final tournament. Chad, who were set to make their debut in WAFCON qualifying, withdrew before the first round due to financial difficulties. Congo withdrew prior to the first leg of the first round due to a lack of competitions and preparation.
In early October 2025, ahead of the second and final round of qualification, reports emerged suggesting that the tournament would be expanded to 16 teams, though no details were provided regarding potential format changes. However, on 25 October, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) dismissed these claims, clarifying that the qualification process would determine 11 teams to join the hosts. Subsequent reports indicated that CAF was nonetheless considering expansion. On 3 November 2025, CAF officially confirmed the expansion from 12 to 16 teams. As the qualification phase for the tournament had already concluded, the four highest-ranked teams based on the FIFA Women's World Ranking of 7 August 2025, among those eliminated in the final qualifying round were selected to complete the list of 16 participating nations.
Of the 16 qualified teams, 9 had taken part in the 2024 edition, while Botswana, DR Congo and Tunisia missed out, having qualified in 2024. Cape Verde and Malawi both made their first appearance in the final tournament.
Qualified teams
OrderTeamQualification methodDate of qualificationAppearance(s)Previous best performance1199820243 (2022, 2024)66220144 (2022)64320102 (2010, 2024)12141st1535200420242 (2024)736199814 (Ten times)37719982 (1998, 2002, 2006)62820221 (2022)118920161 (2016)133101998202414 (2022)55111st11912201220243 (2022, 2024)8113199820221 (2004, 2014, 2016)7014201220141 (2014)7215200220242 (2018)8516199820161 (1998, 2016)101
Venues During the draw on 15 January 2026, it was announced that two stadiums in Rabat alongside Casablanca and Fez, were the three cities chosen to host the competition. The Fez Stadium and both stadiums in Rabat hosted the recently concluded 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. The Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca was the only venue to have previous experience in hosting the women's edition, having been used in 2024.
In June 2026, CAF released the full fixture list in which Fez was no longer indicated as hosting any matches and listed the following venues in Rabat and Casablanca:
+2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations venues Rabat Casablanca Moulay El Hassan Stadium Al Medina Stadium Larbi Zaouli Stadium Capacity: 23,000 Capacity: 18,000 Capacity: 18,600 Rabat Olympic Stadium Moulay Rachid Stadium Capacity: 21,000 Capacity: 5,000
Squads
Match officials On 18 July 2026, CAF announced the selected match officials for the tournament.
Referees
Awa Ilboudo Aline Guimbang Etong Innocentia Ntangti Shahenda El Maghrabi Aïssatou Kanté
Zouleikha Harmasse Zakia El Grini Antsino Twanyanyukwa
Akhona Makalima Vincentia Amédomé Shamirah Nabadda
Assistant Referees
Victorine Ngarassoum
M'mahawa Kourouma Elizabeth Njoroge
Mariem Chedad
Ihssane En-Nouajeli
Elaeis Tomakwiza
Tabara Mbodj Maneo Tau
Diana Chikotesha Nancy Kasitu
Video Match Officials (VMOs)
Hossam Haggag Letticia Viana Peter Waweru Eness Gumbo
Zakaria Bouchtaoui
Salima Mukansanga Issa Sy Abdalaziz Yasir Dorsaf Ganouati Lumbizai Musawa Brighton Chimene
Draw The final draw was held at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat on 15 January 2026. The 16 qualified teams were seeded into four pots based on the FIFA Women's World Ranking from 11 December 2025, noted in parentheses. Host nation Morocco was automatically assigned position A1, while defending champions Nigeria occupied position C1.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
Group stage
The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals.
Tiebreakers Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss).
If two teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 74):
Points in head-to-head matches match between the two tied teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Drawing of lots. If more than two teams were tied, the following criteria were applied instead: Points in matches among the tied teams; Goal difference in matches among the tied teams; Goals scored in matches among the tied teams; If after applying all criteria above, two teams were still tied, the above criteria were applied only to matches played between the two teams in question. If this does not resolve the tie, the next three criteria were applied; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Drawing of lots.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage
The winners of each quarter-final qualified directly for the 2027 Women's World Cup, while the losers competed in play-in matches to determine the two African representatives in the inter-confederation play-offs.
Bracket
Quarter-finals The winners qualified for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Semi-finals
Play-in matches The winners advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Third place
Final
Qualified teams for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup The top four teams in the competition qualified directly for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil, while two additional teams will have the chance to join them through the inter-confederation playoffs.
Team Qualified onPrevious appearances in FIFA Women's World Cup 0 (debut) 1 (2023) 2 (2015, 2019) 0 (debut)
Statistics Goalscorers
Discipline The following suspensions were accumulated during the tournament: + Tournament suspensions for players and team officials Player Offense(s) Suspension(s) Faoziatou Ouédraogo in Group B vs Ivory Coast (matchday 1; 27 July) Group B vs Tanzania (matchday 2; 31 July) Kleydiana Borges in Group D vs Ghana (matchday 1; 29 July) Group D vs Mali (matchday 2; 2 August) Hasnath Ubamba in Group B vs Burkina Faso (matchday 2; 31 July) Group B vs Ivory Coast (matchday 3; 4 August) Rose Alufandika in Group C vs Egypt (matchday 2; 1 August) Group C vs Zambia (matchday 3; 5 August) Oluwatosin Demehin in Group C vs Zambia (matchday 2; 1 August) Group C vs Egypt (matchday 3; 5 August) Jennifer Echegini in Group C vs Malawi (matchday 1; 28 July) in Group C vs Zambia (matchday 2; 1 August) Group C vs Egypt (matchday 3; 5 August) Rosemonde Kouassi in Group B vs South Africa (matchday 2; 31 July) in Group B vs Tanzania (matchday 3; 4 August) Quarter-finals vs Algeria (8 August) Madyina Ngulube in Group C vs Nigeria (matchday 1; 28 July) in Group C vs Zambia (matchday 3; 5 August) Quarter-finals vs Ghana (9 August) Leticia Chinyamula in Group C vs Egypt (matchday 2; 1 August) in Group C vs Zambia (matchday 3; 5 August) Quarter-finals vs Ghana (9 August) Genevieve Ngo Mbeleck in Group D vs Ghana (matchday 2; 2 August) in Group D vs Cape Verde (matchday 3; 6 August) Quarter-finals vs Nigeria (9 August) N'Sira Ouédraogo in Quarter-finals vs Algeria (8 August) Play-in match vs Ghana (13 August)
Awards The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
AwardWinnerBest player Monique NgockBest goalkeeper Michaely BihinaTop scorer Temwa ChaŵingaFair Play
Top goalscorers Below is the list of the three top goalscorers of the tournament. As three players scored five goals each, the tiebreaker used for the golden boot was most assists. Temwa Chaŵinga had the most assists out of these three players.
Temwa Chaŵinga: 5 goals, 2 assists Barbra Banda: 5 goals, 1 assist Marie Ngah Manga: 5 goals Team of the Tournament The official best XI of the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, selected by the CAF Technical Study Group based on the players' performances throughout the tournament Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards Michaely Bihina Inès Belloumou Nouhaila Benzina Hanane Aït El Haj Maëva Nyadjou Marine Dafeur Monique Ngock Temwa Chawinga Tabitha Chawinga Barbra Banda Marie Ngah Manga
Woman of the match The Woman of the Match award was presented after each game during the tournament. The award, presented by TotalEnergies, included an official trophy handed to the player at the end of the match.