The 2026 TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) qualifiers have served some surprises with more still to come.
The second round will see the six top-ranked teams that got a bye return to action – Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Ghana, Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire.
Of the 12 nations that will be playing in the 2024 WAFCON in July this year, the pair of Botswana and Tunisia failed to make the next edition after falling out of the first round of WAFCON 2026 qualifiers.
Neighbours Botswana lost 0-2 in the first leg and were held to a goalless draw by DR Congo, who progress to face South Africa in the second and final round in October.
This scenario also means one of the 2024 finalists will be missing in the 2025 tournament.
After both sides failed to get on the scoresheet in the first leg, Kenya got the winning goal against Tunisia to book their place in the next phase of the 2026 qualifiers following a 1-0 aggregate triumph.
The East Africans will play Gambia who defeated Niger 4-1 on aggregate.
2026 WAFCON FIRST ROUND RESULTS:
| Team 1 | Agg | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Angola | 3–3 (5–4 p) | Zimbabwe | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Malawi | w/o | Congo | w/o | w/o |
| Botswana | 0–2 | DR Congo | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Tanzania | 4–2 | Equatorial Guinea | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Uganda | 2–2 (4–5 p) | Ethiopia | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Eswatini | 0–4 | Namibia | 0–3 | 0–1 |
| Burundi | 1–5 | Burkina Faso | 0–1 | 1–4 |
| Djibouti | 0–10 | Togo | 0–5 | 0–5 |
| South Sudan | 0–8 | Algeria | 0–5 | 0–3 |
| Rwanda | 2–3 | Egypt | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Kenya | 1–0 | Tunisia | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Niger | 1–4 | Gambia | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Benin | 5–2 | Sierra Leone | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| Guinea | 3–6 | Cape Verde | 2–2 | 1–4 |
| Gabon | 1–10 | Mali | 0–6 | 1–4 |
| Chad | w/o | Senegal | w/o | w/o |
In other results, Ethiopia came from behind to send Uganda packing. Armed with a 2-0 lead from the first leg, Bright Starlets failed to protect the advantage, allowing Ethiopia to strike back twice, with the match ending 2-0 to the hosts – 2-2 aggregate. In the ensuing penalty shootout, the home team emerged victorious 5-4.
The Angola/Zimbabwe match also had to be decided through spot kicks after Zimbabwe staged a magnificent fight back. They lost 2-1 away to Angola but reversed the result and won by the same margin in the reverse fixture played in South Africa. But the Angolans proved too strong and registered a 5-4 victory. They will face Malawi who got a walkover after Congo withdrew from the competition.
Togo was too strong for Djibouti, claiming a 10-0 aggregate win, almost matched by Mali who defeated Gabon 10-1 on aggregate.
There were also victories for Tanzania, Namibia, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Egypt, Benin, and Cape Verde.
2026 WAFCON 2026 SECOND ROUND FIXTURES:
More fireworks are expected when the second and final round get underway in October this year. There are 22 countries remaining in the battlefield and in the end only 11 nations will join hosts Morocco at the final tournament in Morocco in March 2026.
This edition serves as the qualifier for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, with Africa four representatives coming from the semi-finalists of the continental women’s championship.
By Matlhomola Morake
