CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026 kick-off times
The TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026, Africa’s flagship women’s competition, will kick off on 26 July 2026 in Rabat, with the Final scheduled for 16 August 2026 also in Rabat.
Now in its 14th edition, CAF has made significant progress in growing and developing women’s football. Over the last five years, the prize money for the winners of the Competition has increased from USD 150,000 to USD 1 million under CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe.
The competition will be played across the cities of Rabat and Casablanca, with five CAF-approved venues selected to host matches and official training activities. The venues are Stade Moulay El Hassan, Stade Al Madina and Stade Olympique in Rabat, as well as Stade Larbi Zaouli and Stade Moulay Rachid in Casablanca.
Morocco 2026 will mark a significant milestone in the history of the Competition, with the final tournament expanding from 12 to 16 participating nations for the first time. The expansion forms part of CAF’s broader women’s football strategy to strengthen the women’s game through greater investment in football development across the continent.
The 16 nations that have qualified for the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026 are: Morocco (hosts), Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria (defending champions), Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
- Group A – Rabat: Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Kenya
- Group B – Casablanca: South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Tanzania
- Group C – Rabat: Nigeria, Zambia, Egypt, Malawi
- Group D – Casablanca: Ghana, Cameroon, Mali, Cape Verde
The participating teams have been drawn into four groups of four. The competition will kick off on Sunday, 26 July 2026, at 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT) at the Rabat Olympic Stadium, where Algeria will face Senegal in the opening match. Hosts Morocco will begin their campaign later that evening against Kenya at 21:00 (20:00 GMT) at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat.
Some of the key pool-stage matches include the Group C meeting between Nigeria and Zambia on 1 August, while Ghana and Cameroon will face each other in a major Group D fixture on 2 August. The quarter-finals will be played on 8 and 9 August.
The winners of the quarter-finals will advance, while the teams eliminated at that stage will remain in contention for places in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 play-offs. The semi-finals will be played on Wednesday, 12 August in Rabat.
On Thursday, 13 August, Casablanca will host important play-off matches involving the teams eliminated in the quarter-finals. The third-place match will be played on Saturday, 15 August at the Rabat Olympic Stadium. The final will take place on Sunday, 16 August 2026, at 20:00 in Rabat, where the new champions of Africa will be crowned.
Defending champions Nigeria enter the tournament seeking to retain the title after winning a record-extending tenth continental crown at the previous edition.
However, the Super Falcons are expected to face strong competition from across the continent, including hosts Morocco, former champions South Africa, traditional powerhouses such as Cameroon and emerging contenders including Algeria, Zambia, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
Adding further significance, this year’s finals will serve as Africa’s qualification tournament for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027. The four quarter-final winners will secure automatic qualification to the global showpiece, while the four teams eliminated at that stage will remain in contention through the FIFA Women’s World Cup play-off pathway.
With continued investment in women’s football across Africa and the growing competitiveness of national teams, the TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON Morocco 2026 is expected to be one of the most closely contested editions in the tournament’s history.
Source: CAF Online
