It is the start of a race to the title on August 16, but also for a place at the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, with the four semi-finalists to book their ticket.
Here is all you need to know about the WAFCON.
The groups and fixtures
Cape Verde and Malawi make their debut in the expanded 16-team competition, the biggest field ever assembled for the continental finals, which were first played in 1998 and are now into a 14th edition.
The groups are as follows (all kick-off times are GMT).
Group A
26 July, 17h00: Algeria v Senegal – Olympic Stadium, Rabat
26 July, 20h00: Morocco v Kenya – Moulay El Hassan Stadium, Rabat
30 July, 17h00: Senegal v Kenya – Olympic Stadium, Rabat
30 July, 20h00: Morocco v Algeria – Moulay El Hassan Stadium, Rabat
3 August, 20h00: Senegal v Morocco – Moulay El Hassan Stadium, Rabat
3 August, 20h00: Kenya v Algeria – Olympic Stadium, Rabat
Group B
27 July, 17h00: South Africa v Tanzania – Moulay Rachid Stadium, Casablanca
27 July, 20h00: Côte d’Ivoire v Burkina Faso – Larbi Zaouli Stadium, Casablanca
31 July, 17h00: South Africa v Côte d’Ivoire – Moulay Rachid Stadium, Casablanca
31 July, 20h00: Burkina Faso v Tanzania – Larbi Zaouli Stadium, Casablanca
4 August, 20h00: Burkina Faso v South Africa – Moulay Rachid Stadium, Casablanca
4 August, 20h00: Tanzania v Côte d’Ivoire – Larbi Zaouli Stadium, Casablanca
Group C
28 July, 17h00: Zambia v Egypt – Olympic Stadium, Rabat
28 July, 20h00: Nigeria v Malawi – Al Madina Stadium, Rabat
1 August, 17h00: Egypt v Malawi – Moulay El Hassan Stadium, Rabat
1 August, 20h00: Nigeria v Zambia – Al Madina Stadium, Rabat
5 August, 20h00: Egypt v Nigeria – Olympic Stadium, Rabat
5 August, 20h00: Malawi v Zambia – Al Madina Stadium, Rabat
Group D
29 July, 17h00: Ghana v Cape Verde – Moulay Rachid Stadium, Casablanca
29 July, 20h00: Cameroon v Mali – Larbi Zaouli Stadium, Casablanca
2 August, 17h00: Ghana v Cameroon – Moulay Rachid Stadium, Casablanca
2 August, 20h00: Mali v Cape Verde – Larbi Zaouli Stadium, Casablanca
6 August, 20h00: Mali v Ghana – Moulay Rachid Stadium, Casablanca
6 August, 20h00: Cape Verde v Cameroon – Larbi Zaouli Stadium, Casablanca
The format
The top two teams in each pool advance to the quarter-finals, after which the competition continues in a straight knockout format.
However, the four teams that lose their quarter-finals hang around for a World Cup qualification play-off.
The loser of quarter-final 1 (Winner Group A vs Runner-up Group B) plays the loser of quarter-final 4 (Winner Group D vs Runner-up Group C), and the loser of quarter-final 2 (Winner Group B vs Runner-up Group A) takes on the loser of quarter-final 3 (Winner Group C vs Runner-up Group D).
The two victors in those play-off fixtures advance to FIFA’s inter-continental play-offs, where they will challenge for three more berths at the World Cup.
Past winners
Nigeria have claimed a record 10 WAFCON titles, including the last one when the tournament was also played in Morocco in 2025. This will in fact be the third edition in a row to be hosted in the North African country.
Equatorial Guinea, with their host of hastily nationalized Brazilians, lifted the trophy on home soil in 2008 and 2012. Since that racket was put to a stop, they have qualified for a single tournament in 2018, where they lost all three matches, scoring one goal and conceding 18.
That brief period where FIFA turned a blind eye to their blatant flouting of the regulations remains a stain on the women’s game.
South Africa are the only other nation to lift the trophy, which they managed in the 2022 edition, finally ending a run of four losses in the final.
Records
3 – Cameroon and Ghana hold the record for most visits to the deciding WAFCON match without lifting the trophy – three each. Morocco have lost the last two finals.
8 – The biggest margin of victory at a finals match is the 8-0 win for Nigeria over Morocco in 1998.
9 – The most goals scored in a single finals game is nine when Ghana defeated Zimbabwe 6-3 in 2000.
13 – Nigeria and South Africa are the only nations to appear in every edition of the WAFCON since it was first staged in its current format in 1998.
13 – Nigeria have reached the semi-finals, at least, in all 13 of their appearances. They have been to 10 finals and won every single one of them. They have finished third once and fourth twice.
16 – The youngest goalscorer at the finals is Desire Oparanozie, who was 16 years, 325 days when she netted against Tanzania in 2010.
28 – Nigeria hold the record for the most team goals in a single tournament as they netted 28 times in five matches on their way to lifting the trophy in 1998. They did not concede a single goal.
29 – Debutants Cape Verde and Malawi will bring to 29 the number of nations who have competed at the finals since 1998.
34 – The most goals scored at the WAFCON finals by an individual player is 34 by Nigeria’s Perpetua Nkwocha. She also holds the record for most goals scored in a single finals tournament with 11 in 2010, and the joint record for most goals scored in a single match (4 vs Cameroon in 2004). She shares that record with compatriot Asisat Oshoala (4 vs Mali in 2016). Nkwocha is also the oldest goalscorer when she netted against Zambia aged 38 years, 284 days in 2014.
66 – The most goals scored in a single tournament is 66 netted in the 2024 edition, which was played in 2025.