Chijioke Gabriel
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced the expansion of the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) from 12 to 16 teams, beginning with the 2026 edition scheduled to hold in Morocco from March 17 to April 3, 2026.
In a statement released on Wednesday, CAF said the decision aligns with its long-term strategic vision to deepen competition and accelerate the growth of women’s football across 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,” the statement read.
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According to CAF, the newly added teams were selected based on the FIFA Women’s World Rankings from among those eliminated in the final qualifying round. The four countries filling the new slots are Cameroon (66th in FIFA ranking), Côte d’Ivoire (71st), Mali (79th) and Egypt (95th).
They will join the 12 nations that had already qualified for the finals: Morocco (hosts), Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Cape Verde, South Africa, and Senegal.
CAF explained that the tournament’s expansion would give more nations the opportunity to gain exposure on the continental stage while enhancing the global visibility of African women’s football.
According to CAF, the 2026 WAFCON will also double as Africa’s qualifying tournament for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.