Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final expanded to 16 teams

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will be expanded from twelve to sixteen teams at the next tournament in March, the Confederation of African Football has decided.

Twelve teams were due to attend next year’s final in Morocco from March 17 to April 3, but the CAF executive committee has increased the number by four.

It means Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Mali will be added to the teams that qualified last week.

The four sides were among those defeated in the final preliminary knockout round but are now included as the top four losers based on their FIFA rankings, CAF said.

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Holders Nigeria, former champions South Africa and Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia qualified last week.

Morocco participates as host. This is the third Women’s Cup of Nations it has hosted, but it is even more important as it serves as the African qualifiers for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with the top four finishers going to Brazil.

Morocco will also host the Men’s Cup of Nations final from December 22 to January 18. The team consists of 24 teams.

Published on November 4, 2025