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

The Confederation of African Football has declared that the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) will increase its number of teams from 12 to 16, starting with the edition set for 2026, which is planned to be held in Morocco from March 17 to April 3, 2026.

In a statement posted on its website on Wednesday, CAF indicated that this move is in line with its strategic goals to enhance competitiveness and foster the growth of women's football throughout the continent.

"Since the qualification process for the 2026 edition has already been finalized, the Executive Committee has sanctioned the selection process to identify the four additional teams.

"According to the current FIFA Women’s World Rankings, the four highest-ranked teams that did not advance in the final qualifying round have been chosen to finalize the list of participating teams.

"Consequently, the teams that will participate in the TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON Morocco 2026 finals include Cameroon (ranked 66th by FIFA), Cote d’Ivoire (71), Mali (79), and Egypt (95)," stated CAF.

These four teams will join the 12 countries that had already secured their qualification: Morocco (the host nation), Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Cape Verde, South Africa, and Senegal.

CAF emphasized that this expansion would provide more African nations with opportunities to participate on the continental platform while enhancing the international profile of women's football from Africa.

Additionally, the 2026 WAFCON will act as the African qualifier for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place in Brazil.

PunchNg