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2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification

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2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification
Tournament details
Dates19 February 2025 (2025-2-19) – October 2025 (2025-10)
Teams37 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played28
Goals scored84 (3 per match)
Top scorer(s)Algeria Ghoutia Karchouni
Angola Ary Papel
Benin Aude Gbedjissi
Burkina Faso Adèle Kabré
Mali Agueissa Diarra
Togo 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

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The African qualifiers are set to commence in February 2025 and will feature two rounds of competition. In the first round, the 32 teams ranked 7th and below will play home-and-away two-legged ties. The 16 winners will advance 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

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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][needs update]

Schedule

[edit]
Round Dates
First round 19–26 February 2025
Second round 20–28 October 2025

Entrants

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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]

Final tournament hosts
Team Rank
 Morocco 59
Teams entering qualifying rounds
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
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

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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]

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

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

First round

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Summary

[edit]
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

[edit]
Angola 2–1 Zimbabwe
  • Ary Papel 1', 73'
 Report
Zimbabwe 2–1 Angola
 Report
Penalties
 4–5
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.[5]

Botswana 0–2 DR Congo
Report
DR Congo 0–0 Botswana
Report
Referee: Shamirah Nabadda (Uganda)

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

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

Eswatini 0–3 Namibia
Report
Namibia 1–0 Eswatini
 Report

Namibia won 4–0 on aggregate.

Burundi 0–1 Burkina Faso
Report
Referee: Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco)
Burkina Faso 4–1 Burundi
 Report

Burkina Faso won 5–1 on aggregate.

Djibouti 0–5 Togo
Report
Referee: Gloria Sambumba (Zambia)
Togo 5–0 Djibouti
 Report
Referee: Isatou Touray (The Gambia)

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
Referee: Marietou Fall (Senegal)

Egypt won 3–2 on aggregate.

Kenya 0–0 Tunisia
Report
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
Referee: Dorsaf Ganouati (Tunisia)

Gambia won 4–1 on aggregate.

Benin 2–1 Sierra Leone
 Report
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

Cape Verde won 6–3 on aggregate.

Gabon 0–6 Mali
Report
Referee: Zakia El Grini (Morocco)
Mali 4–1 Gabon
 Report

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.[6]

Second round

[edit]

Summary

[edit]
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Angola  MalawiOct '25Oct '25
DR Congo  South AfricaOct '25Oct '25
Tanzania  EthiopiaOct '25Oct '25
Namibia  ZambiaOct '25Oct '25
Burkina Faso  TogoOct '25Oct '25
Algeria  CameroonOct '25Oct '25
Egypt  GhanaOct '25Oct '25
Kenya  GambiaOct '25Oct '25
Benin  NigeriaOct '25Oct '25
Cape Verde  MaliOct '25Oct '25
Senegal  Ivory CoastOct '25Oct '25

Matches

[edit]
Angola v Malawi
Malawi v Angola
DR Congo v South Africa
South Africa v DR Congo
Tanzania v Ethiopia
Ethiopia v Tanzania
Namibia v Zambia
Zambia v Namibia
Burkina Faso v Togo
Togo v Burkina Faso
Algeria v Cameroon
Cameroon v Algeria
Egypt v Ghana
Ghana v Egypt
Kenya v Gambia
Gambia v Kenya
Benin v Nigeria
Nigeria v Benin
Cape Verde v Mali
Mali v Cape Verde
Senegal v Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast v Senegal

Goalscorers

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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

1 goal

1 own goal

References

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  1. ^ "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. ^ "Regulations of the Women Africa Cup of Nations" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ Kegengo, Dennis (4 February 2025). "WAFCON Qualifiers: Malawi through to next round after Congo confirm exit". Pan-Africa Football.
  6. ^ "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.
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