The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) finals will expand from 12 to 16 teams starting from the 2026 edition, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced.
Next year’s tournament in Morocco was initially set to feature 12 competing nations, and qualifying for the finals has already reached the second and final round. However, the expansion is expected to necessitate a third round of preliminaries, with 11 remaining nations set to battle for four additional spots.
CAF is expected to release further details after its ongoing executive committee meeting in Kinshasa.
WAFCON was an eight-team tournament from its inception in 1998 until the 2018 edition in Ghana. The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the competition made a strong return in 2022 with 12 participating teams.
CAF has made significant investments to boost women’s football on the continent, with the most recent tournament in Morocco recording a 45 per cent increase in the total prize fund to $3.45 million (£2.6 million). Champions Nigeria received $1 million (£750,000) after clinching a record-extending 10th WAFCON title.
“I am pleased with the progress we’ve made in women’s African football,” CAF President Patrice Motsepe said. “Part of my starting point is ensuring that both men and women are paid well and can build a career out of football. I can assure you that women’s football will continue to improve because it is an area we are focusing on a lot.”
—BBC
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