Sema Fonkem 07 March 2026

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Thursday, March 05 2026 that it will be rescheduling the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) from march to July due to unforeseen circumstances.

The postponement of WAFCON comes just 12 days before kick-off and preparations are now underway for the 16-team tournament to be held from the July 25 to Augsut 16 2026.

There has been tensions between CAF and the Moroccan Football Association after Morocco lost the 2025 Men’s Africa Cup of Nations to Senegal and current disciplinary sanctions with demands for improved security could be a possible reason for postponing WAFCON. The untimely communication from CAF is a strong indicator that there is a serious disagreement behind closed doors.

Critique Africa found that Morocco’s stadiums are congested due to the ongoing first division league and international friendly matches. Due to this reason, there are clashes with WAFCON schedule and this further proves that WAFCON has not been prioritised by the host nation.

The 2026 WAFCON will serve as a preliminary for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament where four teams from the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will automatically gain qualification.

“After discussions between Caf and its partners, Fifa and other stakeholders, Caf decided to reschedule the dates of the Wafcon 2026, to 25 July-16 August 2026 to ensure the success of this important women’s competition, in the light of certain unforeseen circumstances,” a CAF statement said.

Although the new dates have been made public, the statement by CAF did not address speculations about Morocco losing its position as host of WAFCON 2026, which was originally scheduled to take place from July 17 to April 03.

In 2020 WAFCON was entirely cancelled by CAF due to the COVID-19 pandemic which left the competition with no host nation while the men’s tournament went on to play in Cameroon in 2021.

Fans of women’s football and players are highly disappointed with the postponement and view the decision by CAF as continuous lack of respect for the female league.