| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 19 February 2025 – 28 October 2025 |
| Teams | 36 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 50 |
| Goals scored | 131 (2.62 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | (4 goals each) |
← 2024 2028→ | |
The 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification was a women's football competition to determine the 11 teams joining the automatically qualified host Morocco in the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations final tournament. [1]
There were reports that the final tournament would be expanded to 16 teams, [2] but CAF refuted those reports on 25 October. [3]
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.
| Round | Dates |
|---|---|
| First round | 19–26 February 2025 |
| Second round | 22–28 October 2025 |
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. [4]
| Team | Rank |
|---|---|
| 59 |
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| Team | Rank |
|---|---|
| 144 | |
| 165 | |
| 170 | |
| 171 | |
| 176 | |
| 177 | |
| 188 | |
| 190 | |
| 194 | |
| NR | |
| NR | |
| NR | |
| NR | |
| NR |
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. [4] [5]
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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.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | 3–3 (5–4 p) | 2–1 | 1–2 | |
| Malawi | w/o | — | — | |
| Botswana | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | |
| Tanzania | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | |
| Uganda | 2–2 (4–5 p) | 2–0 | 0–2 | |
| Eswatini | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | |
| Burundi | 1–5 | 0–1 | 1–4 | |
| Djibouti | 0–10 | 0–5 | 0–5 | |
| South Sudan | 0–8 | 0–5 | 0–3 | |
| Rwanda | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | |
| Kenya | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | |
| Niger | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–2 | |
| Benin | 5–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | |
| Guinea | 3–6 | 2–2 | 1–4 | |
| Gabon | 1–10 | 0–6 | 1–4 | |
| Chad | w/o | — | — |
| Zimbabwe | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Penalties | ||
| 4–5 | ||
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. [6]
| Botswana | 0–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| DR Congo | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
DR Congo won 2–0 on aggregate.
| Tanzania | 3–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Equatorial Guinea | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Tanzania won 4–2 on aggregate.
| Uganda | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
2–2 on aggregate. Ethiopia won 5–4 on penalties.
| Eswatini | 0–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Namibia | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Namibia won 4–0 on aggregate.
| Burundi | 0–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Burkina Faso | 4–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Burkina Faso won 5–1 on aggregate.
| Djibouti | 0–5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Togo | 5–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Togo won 10–0 on aggregate.
| South Sudan | 0–5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Algeria | 3–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Algeria won 8–0 on aggregate.
Egypt won 3–2 on aggregate.
Kenya won 1–0 on aggregate.
| Gambia | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Gambia won 4–1 on aggregate.
| Benin | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Sierra Leone | 1–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| K. Z. Brima | Report |
Benin won 5–2 on aggregate.
| Guinea | 2–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Cape Verde | 4–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Cape Verde won 6–3 on aggregate.
| Gabon | 0–6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Mali won 10–1 on aggregate.
| Chad | Cancelled | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. [7]
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | |
| DR Congo | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | |
| Tanzania | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |
| Namibia | 2–7 | 2–4 | 0–3 | |
| Burkina Faso | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |
| Algeria | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |
| Egypt | 0–7 | 0–3 | 0–4 | |
| Kenya | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | |
| Benin | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | |
| Cape Verde | 4–3 | 0–1 | 4–2 | |
| Senegal | 0–0 (5–4 p) | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Angola | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
| Malawi | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
Malawi won 2–0 on aggregate.
| DR Congo | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
|
South Africa won 2–1 on aggregate..
| Tanzania | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
| Ethiopia | 0–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) | Msewa |
Tanzania won 3–0 on aggregate.
| Namibia | 2–4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
|
| Zambia | 3–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
Zambia won 7–2 on aggregate.
| Burkina Faso | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
| Togo | 0–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
|
Burkina Faso won 3–0 on aggregate.
| Algeria | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
| Cameroon | 0–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
|
Algeria won 3–1 on aggregate.
| Egypt | 0–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
| Ghana | 4–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
Ghana won 7–0 on aggregate.
| Kenya | 3–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
|
| Gambia | 0–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
|
Kenya won 4–1 on aggregate.
| Benin | 0–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
| Nigeria | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
|
Nigeria won 3–1 on aggregate.
| Cape Verde | 0–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) | C. Dembele |
| Mali | 2–4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report Report (FIFA) |
Cape Verde won 4–3 on aggregate.
| Senegal | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) |
| Ivory Coast | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) | ||
| Penalties | ||
| 4–5 | ||
0–0 on aggregate. Senegal won 5–4 on penalties.
| Team | Ranking |
|---|---|
| 66 | |
| 71 | |
| 79 | |
| 95 | |
| 116 | |
| 120 | |
| 123 | |
| 124 | |
| 128 | |
| 144 | |
| 152 |
The following teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in Women's Africa Cup of Nations 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosts | 17 April 2024 | 4 (1998, 2000, 2022 , 2024 ) | |
| Second round winners | 26 October 2025 | 4 (2014, 2018, 2022, 2024) | |
| 28 October 2025 | 2 (2010, 2024) | ||
| Debut | |||
| 6 (2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2024) | |||
| 13 ( 1998 , 2000 , 2002 , 2004 , 2006 , 2008, 2010 , 2012, 2014 , 2016 , 2018 , 2022, 2024 ) | |||
| 11 (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018 , 2024) | |||
| 1 (2022) | |||
| 1 (2016) | |||
| 13 (1998, 2000 , 2002, 2004 , 2006, 2008, 2010 , 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022 , 2024) | |||
| Debut | |||
| 3 (2012, 2022, 2024) | |||
| Second round lucky losers | 4 November 2025 | 13 (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 , 2018, 2022) | |
| 3 (2012, 2014) | |||
| 9 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2024) | |||
| 3 (1998, 2016) |
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
This Sunday will kick off the return legs of the final qualifying round, which will determine the eleven teams that will join Morocco...