Qualification
Did not qualify
Did not enter or withdrew
Not part of CAF
A total of 39 CAF member nations entered the competition. With hosts Morocco automatically qualified, the remaining 38 teams contested two qualifying rounds to decide the other 11 places in the final tournament. [4] Chad, who were set to make their debut in WAFCON qualifying, withdrew before the first round due to financial difficulties.
In early October 2025, ahead of the second and final round of qualification, reports emerged suggesting that the tournament would be expanded to 16 teams, though no details were provided regarding potential format changes. [5] [6] However, on 25 October, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) dismissed these claims, clarifying that the qualification process would determine 11 teams to join the hosts. [7] Subsequent reports indicated that CAF was nonetheless considering expansion. [8] On 3 November 2025, CAF officially confirmed the expansion from 12 to 16 teams. As the qualification phase for the tournament had already concluded, the four highest-ranked teams based on the FIFA Women's World Ranking of 7 August 2025, among those eliminated in the final qualifying round were selected to complete the list of 16 participating nations. [9]
Of the 16 qualified teams, 9 had taken part in the 2024 edition, while Botswana, DR Congo and Tunisia missed out, having qualified in 2024. Cape Verde and Malawi both will make their first appearance in the final tournament. [10]
Qualified teams
Note: The statistics only cover the 14 officially recognized editions of the WAFCON. The 1991 and 1995 tournaments, which were held solely as FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers, are not included.
| Order | Team | Qualified as | Date of qualification | App | First | Last | Streak | Best performance | WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Morocco | Hosts | 17 October 2024 | 5th | 1998 | 2024 | 3 | Runners-up (2022, 2024) | |
| 2 |  Zambia | Second round winners | 26 October 2025 | 5th | 2014 | 4 | Third place (2022) | ||
| 3 |  Tanzania | 28 October 2025 | 3rd | 2010 | 2 | Group stage (2010, 2024) | |||
| 4 |  Malawi | 1st | Debut | ||||||
| 5 |  Algeria | 7th | 2004 | 2024 | 2 | Quarter-final (2024) | |||
| 6 |  Nigeria | 14th | 1998 | 14 | Champions (Ten times) [note 1] | ||||
| 7 |  Ghana | 12th | 1998 | 2 | Runners-up (1998, 2002, 2006) | ||||
| 8 |  Burkina Faso | 2nd | 2022 | 1 | Group stage (2022) | ||||
| 9 |  Kenya | 2nd | 2016 | 1 | Group stage (2016) | ||||
| 10 |  South Africa | 14th | 1998 | 2024 | 14 | Champions (2022) | |||
| 11 |  Cape Verde | 1st | Debut | ||||||
| 12 |  Senegal | 4th | 2012 | 2024 | 3 | Quarter-final (2022, 2024) | |||
| 13 |  Cameroon | Second round best four losers based on the FIFA Women's World Ranking (of 7 August 2025) | 3 November 2025 | 13th | 1998 | 2022 | 1 | Runners-up (2004, 2014, 2016) | |
| 14 |  Ivory Coast | 3rd | 2012 | 2014 | 1 | Third place (2014) | |||
| 15 |  Mali | 9th | 2002 | 2024 | 2 | Fourth place (2018) | |||
| 16 |  Egypt | 3rd | 1998 | 2016 | 1 | Group stage (1998, 2016) | |||
