2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification

2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification
Tournament details
Dates19 February – 28 October 2025 (2025-02-19 – 2025-10-28)
Teams36 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played50
Goals scored131 (2.62 per match)
Top scorer(s) Ghoutia Karchouni
Adèle Kabré
Doris Boaduwaa
Racheal Kundananji
(4 goals each)
← 2024
2028 →

The 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification was a women's football competition to determine the teams joining the automatically qualified host Morocco in the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations final tournament.[1]

Though CAF planned for a final tournament of 12 teams,[1] reports surfaced in early October 2025 that the final tournament would be expanded to 16 teams.[2] CAF apparently refuted those reports on 25 October by clarifying that 11 teams would qualify,[3] but announced on 3 November that the four teams defeated in the second round that were ranked highest in the FIFA Women's World Ranking of 7 August 2025 would also play in the final tournament.[4]

Format

The African qualifiers commenced in February 2025 and featured two rounds of competition. In the first round, the 32 teams ranked 7th and below played home-and-away two-legged ties. The 16 winners advanced to the second round, where they were joined by the six teams that received a bye. The winners of the 11 second round home-and-away ties qualified for the final tournament in Morocco. After the completion of the second round, CAF announced four additional teams had qualified based on their FIFA ranking.[4]

Schedule

Round Dates
First round 19–26 February 2025
Second round 22–28 October 2025

Entrants

Fifty-two CAF national women's teams were eligible to enter qualification as Morocco had already qualified as hosts, though only 38 teams registered. The six teams ranked highest in the FIFA Women's World Ranking were given a bye to the second round, and the next 16 highest-ranked teams were seeded in the first round and played the second leg at home.[5]

Final tournament hosts
Team Rank
 Morocco 59
Teams entering qualifying rounds[a]
Bye to second round
Team Rank
 Nigeria 36
 South Africa 50
 Zambia 62
 Ghana 66
 Cameroon 69
 Ivory Coast 71
First round seeded teams
Team Rank
 Tunisia 78
 Mali 81
 Equatorial Guinea 82
 Senegal 83
 Algeria 84
 Egypt 93
 DR Congo 102
 Congo 112
 Togo 120
 Ethiopia 123
 Zimbabwe 124
 Namibia 125
 Gambia 127
 Cape Verde 130
 Burkina Faso 136
 Sierra Leone 141
First round unseeded teams
Team Rank
 Guinea 142
 Gabon 143
 Tanzania 145
 Angola 148
 Uganda 150
 Kenya 151
 Benin 152
 Botswana 153
 Malawi 156
 Niger 166
 Rwanda 167
 Burundi 178
 Eswatini 182
 South Sudan 192
 Chad NR
 Djibouti NR
  1. ^ Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament
Did not enter
Team Rank
 Central African Republic 144
 Liberia 165
 Seychelles 170
 Mozambique 171
 Lesotho 176
 Guinea-Bissau 177
 Comoros 188
 Madagascar 190
 Mauritius 194
 Libya NR
 Eritrea NR
 Sudan NR
 Mauritania NR
 São Tomé and Príncipe NR

Pots

The 32 teams playing in the first round were allocated into six pots based on a combination of their FIFA Ranking and geographical considerations, with neighboring zones paired together where possible according to the number of teams. The seedings, pots, and draw procedure were confirmed by CAF on 12 December 2024.[5][6]

Pot 1 / Unseeded
(COSAFA & CECAFA)
Team Rank
 Angola 151
 Botswana 153
 Malawi 156
 Eswatini 182
 Tanzania 145
 Uganda 148
Pot 2 / Seeded
(COSAFA, CECAFA & UNIFFAC)
Team Rank
 Ethiopia 124
 Zimbabwe 127
 Namibia 122
 Equatorial Guinea 82
 DR Congo 109
 Congo 112
Pot 3 / Unseeded
(CECAFA)
Team Rank
 Kenya 149
 Rwanda 168
 Burundi 178
 South Sudan 193
 Djibouti NR
Pot 4 / Seeded
(UNAF & WAFU B)
Team Rank
 Tunisia 78
 Algeria 84
 Egypt 92
 Togo 120
 Burkina Faso 137
Pot 5 / Unseeded
(WAFU & UNIFFAC)
Team Rank
 Guinea 142
 Benin 152
 Niger 167
 Gabon 143
 Chad NR
Pot 6 / Seeded
(WAFU A)
Team Rank
 Mali 81
 Senegal 83
 Gambia 126
 Cape Verde 129
 Sierra Leone 141

Draw

The draw for the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers took place on 12 December 2024 at 12:00 GMT.

First round

Summary

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Angola 3–3 (5–4 p) Zimbabwe2–11–2
Malawi w/o Congo——
Botswana 0–2 DR Congo0–20–0
Tanzania 4–2 Equatorial Guinea3–11–1
Uganda 2–2 (4–5 p) Ethiopia2–00–2
Eswatini 0–4 Namibia0–30–1
Burundi 1–5 Burkina Faso0–11–4
Djibouti 0–10 Togo0–50–5
South Sudan 0–8 Algeria0–50–3
Rwanda 2–3 Egypt0–12–2
Kenya 1–0 Tunisia0–01–0
Niger 1–4 Gambia0–21–2
Benin 5–2 Sierra Leone2–13–1
Guinea 3–6 Cape Verde2–21–4
Gabon 1–10 Mali0–61–4
Chad w/o Senegal——

Matches

Angola 2–1 Zimbabwe
  • Ary Papel 1', 73'
 Report
Zimbabwe 2–1 Angola
  • Chinyerere 35'
  • Katona 44'
 Report
  • Ary Papel 78'
Penalties
 4–5
  • Cristina
  • Margareth
  • Ketcha
  • Docarsia
  • Ngonguinha
Referee: Aline Guimbang A Etong (Cameroon)

3–3 on aggregate. Angola won 5–4 on penalties.

Malawi Cancelled Congo
Report
Congo Cancelled Malawi
Report

Malawi won on walkover and advanced to the second round after Congo withdrew prior to the first leg due to a lack of competitions and preparation.[7]

Botswana 0–2 DR Congo
Report
Referee: Aïssata Lam (Mauritania)
DR Congo 0–0 Botswana
Report

DR Congo won 2–0 on aggregate.

Tanzania 3–1 Equatorial Guinea
 Report
Equatorial Guinea 1–1 Tanzania
 Report
Referee: Mercy Mayimbo (Zimbabwe)

Tanzania won 4–2 on aggregate.

Uganda 2–0 Ethiopia
 Report
Referee: Joséphine Ngo Biem (Cameroon)
Ethiopia 2–0 Uganda
  • Kalsa 66'
  • Girma 90+6'
 Report
Penalties
  • Addissu
  • Daniel
  • Girma
  • Feleke
  • Wakuma
  • Amare
5–4
  • Namuleme
  • Nabirye
  • Nabbumba
  • Nabulime
  • Nantongo
  • Kobusobozi
Referee: Patience Madu Ndidi (Nigeria)

2–2 on aggregate. Ethiopia won 5–4 on penalties.

Eswatini 0–3 Namibia
Report
  • Vliete 2'
  • Kooper 18'
  • Kanyama 90+4'
Namibia 1–0 Eswatini
  • Blou 3'
 Report

Namibia won 4–0 on aggregate.

Burundi 0–1 Burkina Faso
Report
  • M. Traoré 24'
Burkina Faso 4–1 Burundi
  • Kabré 19', 44', 90'
  • Millogo 63'
 Report
  • Habonimana 84'

Burkina Faso won 5–1 on aggregate.

Djibouti 0–5 Togo
Report
Referee: Gloria Sambumba (Zambia)
Togo 5–0 Djibouti
 Report

Togo won 10–0 on aggregate.

South Sudan 0–5 Algeria
Report
Referee: Richy Nganda Madiamba (Gabon)
Algeria 3–0 South Sudan
 Report

Algeria won 8–0 on aggregate.

Rwanda 0–1 Egypt
Report Essam 64'
Referee: Sylvina Garnett (Liberia)
Egypt 2–2 Rwanda
 Report
  • Zawadi 26', 90+5'
Referee: Mariétou Fall (Senegal)

Egypt won 3–2 on aggregate.

Kenya 0–0 Tunisia
Report
Ulinzi Sports Complex, Nairobi
Tunisia 0–1 Kenya
Report Engesha 4'

Kenya won 1–0 on aggregate.

Niger 0–2 Gambia
Report
Referee: Aline Umutoni (Rwanda)
Gambia 2–1 Niger
 Report
  • Ahmed Sidi 23'

Gambia won 4–1 on aggregate.

Benin 2–1 Sierra Leone
 Report
  • K. A. Kamara 36'
Sierra Leone 1–3 Benin
K. Z. Brima 90+6' Report

Benin won 5–2 on aggregate.

Guinea 2–2 Cape Verde
 Report
Referee: Ghada Mehat (Algeria)
Cape Verde 4–1 Guinea
 Report
  • Mar. Camara 30'

Cape Verde won 6–3 on aggregate.

Gabon 0–6 Mali
Report
Referee: Zakia El Grini (Morocco)
Mali 4–1 Gabon
 Report
  • Assengone 81' (pen.)

Mali won 10–1 on aggregate.

Chad Cancelled Senegal
Report
Senegal Cancelled Chad
Report

Senegal won on walkover and advanced to the second round after Chad withdrew prior to the first leg due to delays in the disbursement process of the funds needed for match preparations and lack of funding.[8]

Second round

Summary

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Angola 0–2 Malawi0–00–2
DR Congo 1–2 South Africa1–10–1
Tanzania 3–0 Ethiopia2–01–0
Namibia 2–7 Zambia2–40–3
Burkina Faso 3–0 Togo2–01–0
Algeria 3–1 Cameroon2–11–0
Egypt 0–7 Ghana0–30–4
Kenya 4–1 Gambia3–11–0
Benin 1–3 Nigeria0–21–1
Cape Verde 4–3 Mali0–14–2
Senegal 0–0 (5–4 p) Ivory Coast0–00–0

Matches

Angola 0–0 Malawi
Report (FIFA)
Referee: Aline Umutoni (Rwanda)
Malawi 2–0 Angola
 Report (FIFA)
Referee: Rachel Zihindula (DR Congo)

Malawi won 2–0 on aggregate.

DR Congo 1–1 South Africa
 Report (FIFA)
South Africa 1–0 DR Congo
Kgatlana 90+1' Report (FIFA)

South Africa won 2–1 on aggregate.

Tanzania 2–0 Ethiopia
  • Mnunka 7'
  • Mnunduka 54'
 Report (FIFA)
Referee: Aminata Fullah (Sierra Leone)
Ethiopia 0–1 Tanzania
Report (FIFA) Msewa 15'
Referee: Agnes Ngoma (Congo)

Tanzania won 3–0 on aggregate.

Namibia 2–4 Zambia
 Report (FIFA)
Referee: Tatu Malogo (Tanzania)
Zambia 3–0 Namibia
 Report (FIFA)

Zambia won 7–2 on aggregate.

Burkina Faso 2–0 Togo
 Report (FIFA)
Referee: Mariétou Fall (Senegal)
Togo 0–1 Burkina Faso
Report (FIFA)
Referee: Zakia El Grini (Morocco)

Burkina Faso won 3–0 on aggregate.

Algeria 2–1 Cameroon
 Report (FIFA)
Referee: Awa Ilboudo (Burkina Faso)
Cameroon 0–1 Algeria
Report (FIFA)
Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)
Referee: Diana Murungi (Uganda)

Algeria won 3–1 on aggregate.

Egypt 0–3 Ghana
Report (FIFA)
Ghana 4–0 Egypt
 Report (FIFA)

Ghana won 7–0 on aggregate.

Kenya 3–1 Gambia
 Report (FIFA)
Referee: Aline Guimbang Etong (Cameroon)
Gambia 0–1 Kenya
Report (FIFA)

Kenya won 4–1 on aggregate.

Benin 0–2 Nigeria
Report (FIFA)
Referee: Fatou Ngum (Gambia)[10]
Nigeria 1–1 Benin
 Report (FIFA)
  • Djibril 61'
Referee: Dominique Hanjavola (Madagascar)

Nigeria won 3–1 on aggregate.

Cape Verde 0–1 Mali
Report (FIFA) C. Dembele 81'
Referee: Aicha Bit Oumarou (Chad)
Mali 2–4 Cape Verde
 Report
Report (FIFA)
Referee: Kindédji Edoh (Togo)

Cape Verde won 4–3 on aggregate.

Senegal 0–0 Ivory Coast
Report (FIFA)
Referee: Mercy Mayimbo (Zimbabwe)

0–0 on aggregate. Senegal won 5–4 on penalties.

Repechage

The best four second round losers chosen by repechage according to the FIFA Women's World Ranking (as of 7 August 2025) below:

Team Ranking
 Cameroon 66
 Ivory Coast 71
 Mali 79
 Egypt 95
 DR Congo 116
 Togo 120
 Namibia 123
 Gambia 124
 Ethiopia 128
 Benin 144
 Angola 152

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in Women's Africa Cup of Nations1
 Morocco Hosts 17 October 2024 4 (1998, 2000, 2022, 2024)
 Zambia Second round winners 26 October 2025 4 (2014, 2018, 2022, 2024)
 Tanzania 28 October 2025 2 (2010, 2024)
 Malawi 0 (debut)
 Algeria 6 (2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2024)
 Nigeria 13 (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2024)
 Ghana 11 (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2024)
 Burkina Faso 1 (2022)
 Kenya 1 (2016)
 South Africa 13 (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2024)
 Cape Verde 0 (debut)
 Senegal 3 (2012, 2022, 2024)
 Cameroon Second round lucky losers 3 November 2025 12 (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022)
 Ivory Coast 2 (2012, 2014)
 Mali 8 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2024)
 Egypt 2 (1998, 2016)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Goalscorers

There were 131 goals scored in 50 matches, for an average of 2.62 goals per match.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

References

  1. ^ a b "TotalEnergies CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations 2026: 38 Nations Begin the Road to Glory in Morocco". CAFOnline.com. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Wafcon expands to 16 teams for 2026 finals". BBC Sport. 5 October 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  3. ^ "Women's AFCON 2026: Who Will Join Morocco?". cafonline.com. CAF. 25 October 2025. Retrieved 27 October 2025. This Sunday will kick off the return legs of the final qualifying round, which will determine the eleven teams that will join Morocco...
  4. ^ a b Defly, Edinam Franck (4 November 2025). "CAN Féminine 2026 : La CAF repêche quatre équipes pourtant éliminées". africatopsports.com (in French). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  5. ^ a b "CAF to conduct TotalEnergies Women's Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers Draw on Thursday". CAFOnline.com. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  6. ^ "PROCEDURES OF THE DRAW OF THE QUALIFERS OF THE WOMEN AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2026" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  7. ^ Kegengo, Dennis (4 February 2025). "WAFCON Qualifiers: Malawi through to next round after Congo confirm exit". Pan-Africa Football.
  8. ^ "Football: The FTFA announces the withdrawal of the Sao women's team from the qualifiers for the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations". toumaiwebmedias.com (in French). 16 February 2025. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
  9. ^ "CAF appoints officials for Egypt vs Ghana WAFCON 2026 qualifier". Ghana Football Association. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  10. ^ Liadi, Tunde (16 October 2025). "Gambian referee to decide Super Falcons, Beninese Ladies WAFCON Qualifier". thenationonlineng.net. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
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