Abdel Majid Bziouat via Getty Images
The Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) has added four teams to the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations after the qualification process ended.
Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mali and Egypt have all been added to the tournament despite failing to qualify in an expansion of the tournament to 16 teams from 2026.
The recently-added nations lost in the final qualifying round but were the highest ranked of those who did, deeming them eligible, by CAF’s executive committee, to be included in the expansion. Of them, only Mali featured in this summer’s tournament.
They will join Morocco (hosts), Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Cape Verde, South Africa and Senegal for the continent’s flagship tournament between March 17 and April 3 next year.
“The decision is in line with CAF’s strategic vision to strengthen the competitiveness and development of women’s football on the African continent,” the federation said in a release on Wednesday.
Nigeria won the 2024 WAFCON in July, after the tournament was postponed by a year.
CAF had decided to host it in the summer — in line with the men’s edition — instead of the November-December slot but found a clash as Zambia and Nigeria qualified for the summer Olympics.
The men’s edition of the tournament is set to take place from December 21 to January 18 in Morocco, as Ivory Coast bid to defend their title.
Nov 5, 2025
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