2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 19 February 2025 – October 2025 |
| Teams | 37 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 28 |
| Goals scored | 84 (3 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Ghoutia Karchouni Ary Papel Aude Gbedjissi Adèle Kabré Agueissa Diarra Odette Gnintegma (3 goals each) |
← 2024 2028 →
All statistics correct as of 26 February 2025. | |
The 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification is a women's football competition that will determine the 11 teams joining the automatically qualified host Morocco in the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations final tournament.[1]
Format
The African qualifiers commenced in February 2025 and will feature 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 will be joined by the 6 teams that received a bye. The winners of the 11 second round home-and-away ties will qualify for the final tournament in Morocco.
Tiebreakers
If the aggregate score is tied after the second leg, the away goals rule will have been applied, and if still tied, a penalty shoot-out will be held (no extra time).[2]
Schedule
| Round | Dates |
|---|---|
| First round | 19–26 February 2025 |
| Second round | 20–28 October 2025 |
Entrants
All 53 CAF national teams were eligible to enter the competition; however, excluding Morocco, who qualified automatically as hosts of the final tournament, 38 teams registered for the qualifying tournament. The six highest-ranked teams based on FIFA rankings received a bye to the second round. In the first round, the teams are split into 16 higher-ranked and 16 less-ranked.[3]
| Team | Rank |
|---|---|
| Morocco | 59 |
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| 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 their FIFA Ranking (three pots of the highest-ranked teams and three of the 16 lower-ranked teams), as well as regional 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.[3][4]
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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 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | 3–3 (5–4 p) | Zimbabwe | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Malawi | w/o | Congo | — | — |
| Botswana | 0–2 | DR Congo | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Tanzania | 4–2 | Equatorial Guinea | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Uganda | 2–2 (4–5 p) | Ethiopia | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Eswatini | 0–4 | Namibia | 0–3 | 0–1 |
| Burundi | 1–5 | Burkina Faso | 0–1 | 1–4 |
| Djibouti | 0–10 | Togo | 0–5 | 0–5 |
| South Sudan | 0–8 | Algeria | 0–5 | 0–3 |
| Rwanda | 2–3 | Egypt | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Kenya | 1–0 | Tunisia | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Niger | 1–4 | Gambia | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Benin | 5–2 | Sierra Leone | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| Guinea | 3–6 | Cape Verde | 2–2 | 1–4 |
| Gabon | 1–10 | Mali | 0–6 | 1–4 |
| Chad | w/o | Senegal | — | — |
Matches
| Zimbabwe | 2–1 | Angola |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
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| Penalties | ||
| 4–5 |
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3–3 on aggregate. Angola won 5–4 on penalties.
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.[5]
DR Congo won 2–0 on aggregate.
| Tanzania | 3–1 | Equatorial Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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Tanzania won 4–2 on aggregate.
| Ethiopia | 2–0 | Uganda |
|---|---|---|
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Report | |
| Penalties | ||
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5–4 |
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2–2 on aggregate. Ethiopia won 5–4 on penalties.
| Namibia | 1–0 | Eswatini |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
Namibia won 4–0 on aggregate.
| Burundi | 0–1 | Burkina Faso |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| Burkina Faso | 4–1 | Burundi |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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Burkina Faso won 5–1 on aggregate.
| Togo | 5–0 | Djibouti |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
Togo won 10–0 on aggregate.
| South Sudan | 0–5 | Algeria |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Algeria | 3–0 | South Sudan |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
Algeria won 8–0 on aggregate.
Egypt won 3–2 on aggregate.
Kenya won 1–0 on aggregate.
| Gambia | 2–1 | Niger |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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Gambia won 4–1 on aggregate.
| Benin | 2–1 | Sierra Leone |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| Sierra Leone | 1–3 | Benin |
|---|---|---|
| K. Z. Brima 90+6' | Report |
Benin won 5–2 on aggregate.
| Guinea | 2–2 | Cape Verde |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Cape Verde | 4–1 | Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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Cape Verde won 6–3 on aggregate.
| Gabon | 0–6 | Mali |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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Mali won 10–1 on aggregate.
| Chad | Cancelled | Senegal |
|---|---|---|
| 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.[6]
Second round
Summary
Matches
Goalscorers
There have been 84 goals scored in 28 matches, for an average of 3 goals per match (as of 26 February 2025). Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.
3 goals
2 goals
- Laura Taleb Muller
- Varsénia da Luz
- Evy Pereira
- Habiba Essam
- Fatou Kanteh
- Aïssata Traoré
- Usanase Zawadi
- Enekia Kasonga
- Koudjoukalo Sama
- Mafille Woedikou
1 goal
- Léa Abadou
- Naïma Bouhani
- Marguérite Ahouassou
- Germaine Honfo
- Charlotte Millogo
- Madina Traoré
- Esperance Habonimana
- Melany Fortes
- Ivânia Moreira
- Gloria Mabomba
- Menna Tarek
- Dorine Chuigoué
- Shalma Midje
- Etsegenet Girma
- Aregash Kalsa
- Laschwana Assengone
- Mbassey Darboe
- Fatou Sonko
- Aminata Camara
- Marie Camara
- Terry Engesha
- Fatou Dembele
- Salimata Diarra
- Fatoumata Niakaté
- Coulouba Sogoré
- Aïssata Tapily
- Juliana Blou
- Hilma Kanyama
- Ivone Kooper
- Fiola Vliete
- Faouzia Ahmed Sidi
- Kadiatu Abdulai Kamara
- Kumba Zainab Brima
- Stumai Athumani
- Diana Msewa
- Nathalie Badate
- Amiratou N'djambara
- Afi Rifela Dogli
- Fazila Ikwaput
- Zainah Namuleme
- Ethel Chinyerere
- Christabel Katona
- Ruvimbo Mucherera
1 own goal
- Lone Gaofetoge (against DR Congo)
- Ivania Moreira (against Guinea)
- Dorka Lokeri (against Algeria)
References
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Regulations of the Women Africa Cup of Nations" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Kegengo, Dennis (4 February 2025). "WAFCON Qualifiers: Malawi through to next round after Congo confirm exit". Pan-Africa Football.
- ^ "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.