The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Wednesday confirmed that the final draw for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) will take place in Rabat on Thursday, 15 January, Afrosport reports.
The ceremony will also see CAF unveil the winners of its outstanding women’s football awards, including the highly anticipated Women’s Coach of the Year, on the same day.
Scheduled for 14:00 local time (same as Nigerian Time), the draw will usher in a new chapter for Africa’s flagship women’s international tournament, which will feature an expanded 16-team format for the first time in its history.
Host nation Morocco will be joined in the draw by 15 other qualified teams: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
The expanded format reflects CAF’s continued commitment to growing the women’s game across the continent, providing more nations with the opportunity to compete on Africa’s biggest stage.
Nigeria’s Super Falcons are the defending champions, having defeated Morocco 3-2 in the final last July to win a record-extending 10th WAFCON title.
Ahead of the draw, CAF will also announce the winners of three women’s awards categories: Women’s Coach of the Year, Women’s Interclub Player of the Year, and Women’s Club of the Year.
The awards were initially slated to be presented at the 2025 CAF Awards ceremony but were postponed due to the women’s football season remaining incomplete at the time, largely as a result of the ongoing CAF Women’s Champions League.
Earlier this week, CAF confirmed that voting for the three women’s categories has been officially reopened, paving the way for the final winners to be crowned alongside the WAFCON draw in Rabat.
