CAF expands women’s AFCON to 16 teams for 2026 edition

The Confederation of African Football has declared the enlargement of the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) from 12 to 16 teams, starting with the 2026 edition that is set to occur in Morocco from March 17 to April 3, 2026.

In a statement published on its website on Wednesday, CAF indicated that this decision is in line with its strategic vision to enhance competitiveness and expedite the growth of women’s football throughout the continent.

“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),” CAF said.

The four teams will join the 12 nations that had already qualified: Morocco (hosts), Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Cape Verde, South Africa, and Senegal.

CAF noted that the expansion would enable more African nations to gain exposure on the continental stage while boosting the global visibility of women’s football from Africa.

The 2026 WAFCON will also serve as the African qualifier for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.