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The delayed Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) 2024 tournament will take place in Morocco from July 5-26, 2025.
South Africa will be looking to defend their title, which they won in the same host country in 2022. Morocco, who lost the last final on home soil, are also among the favourites.
Nigeria, the most successful team in African women's football history, are also expected to be among the teams to watch, as are Zambia - buoyed by NWSL stars Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji, not to mention Grace Chanda and Prisca Chilufya.
The tournament kicks off on July 5 at Rabat's Olympic Stadium, with hosts Morocco taking on fan-favourites Zambia. The group stage will continue until July 14, before the knockout rounds begin four days later.
The quarter-finals will be played on July 18 & 19, the semi-finals on July 22, and the third-place playoff on July 25. The tournament will come full circle with the final on July 26 taking place at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat.
Three groups of four teams start the tournament, and the top two teams from each group will automatically advance to the knockouts. They will be joined by the two best third-placed teams.
Group A: Morocco (host), Zambia, Senegal, DR Congo
Group B: Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Botswana
Group C: South Africa (holders), Ghana, Mali, Tanzania
The Super Falcons of Nigeria
The Confederation of African Football has increases the Prize Money of the Winner of the WAFCON Morocco 2024 by 100 per cent and the total Prize Money of this Competition by 45 per cent.
The President of CAF, Dr Patrice Motsepe said: “CAF is continuing with its commitment to the development and growth of Women’s Football in Africa.
The 100 per cent increase in the Prize Money of the Winner of the TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON Morocco 2024 and the 45 per cent total increase in the Prize Money of this Competition should contribute to the increase of the salaries of Women Football players, coaches and employees.
The quality and standard of Women’s Football in Africa is consistently improving and is world class.
We are excited about the substantial increase in the number of fans, broadcasting viewers and sponsors in the TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON Morocco 2024. This Competition is going to be enormously successful.”
The participating National Teams in the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (“WAFCON”) Morocco 2024 will receive:
Winner: USD 1 000 000
Runner up: USD 500 000
Third place: USD 350 000
Fourth place: USD 300 000
Quarter-finalists (4 Teams): USD 200 000 for each Team
3rd of the group: USD 150 000
4th of the group (3 Teams): USD 125 000 for each Team
In a move which was widely criticised, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) postponed the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) to avoid a clash with the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Morocco - who hosted the last WAFCON and are also set to host the edition after the current one - were confirmed as WAFCON 2024 hosts in August 2022. The fact that the scheduling could not be resolved over the following two years has led to criticism of CAF.
How did teams qualify for WAFCON 2024?
South Africa's Banyana Banyana won the title in 2022
The qualification for WAFCON 2024 followed a structured, two-round knockout format to determine the 11 spots joining host nation Morocco. Both rounds 1 and 2 were played over two legs.
South Africa and Zambia received a bye into the second round on account of their performances at WAFCON 2022 as well as their ranking. Nigeria were forced to enter the first round as a result of finishing only fourth at the previous edition, but ultimately received a walkover round 1 victory over opponents São Tomé and Príncipe, who withdrew due to logistical and financial challenges.
It was no surprise that Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia cruised into the WAFCON. However, qualifiers did claim some major casualties. Most notably, Cameroon failed to make it past the first round.
Their shocking upset via penalties at the hands of Kenya saw the Indomitable Lionesses fail to qualify for the tournament for the first time ever. In WAFCON 1995 - the only previous edition which did not feature them - they had qualified but withdrew.
Kenya, despite shocking one of Africa's best teams in the first round, lost to Botswana in the second.
The semifinalists at the last WAFCON - South Africa, Morocco, Zambia and Nigeria - were the same four teams who made the semi-finals of the CAF Olympic qualifying tournament for Paris 2024. Ultimately, Zambia beat Morocco and Nigeria beat South Africa to progress to the Olympics.
These four teams have to be the ones to watch - particularly Zambia and Nigeria. The Super Falcons are the most successful team in African women's football history with 11 titles including their 1991 and 1995 triumphs - which came before the tournament expanded ahead of the 1998 edition.
Meanwhile, the Copper Queens' golden generation is reaching its peak and Zambia will be boosted by Barbra Banda being cleared to participate after they finished third without her last time. Banda's absence at the last tournament has been attributed to concerns over compliance with CAF's controversial testosterone requirements.
Banda (Orlando Pride) will be one of the players to watch at this tournament, together with teammate Kundananji (Bay FC).
Nigeria is in the middle of a handover from one generation to the next, and it is worth watching Paris Saint-Germain attacking midfielder Jennifer Echegini and Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.
South Africa are in the middle of a similar transition. Their preparations have been marred by protests over alleged non-payment by their Football Association, SAFA. However, they have proven at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup that they are capable of pulling closer together through this sort of turbulence.
Midfielder Linda Motlhalo (Glasgow City) is a supremely skillful player, while forward Jermaine Seoposenwe (CF Monterrey) is one of the hardest workers on the pitch and is likely to have extra motivation in what is set to be her last international tournament.
They will, however, have to do without star striker Thembi Kgatlana, who withdrew from the squad two weeks from the tournament due to personal reasons.
For Morocco, keep an eye on veteran forward Ghizlane Chebbak, who has spent the majority of her career at home but now plays in Spain for Levante Badalona as the profile of Moroccan women's football continues to grow.
Elsewhere Ghana's Evelyn Badu - who plays in France for Fleury 91 - was the Player of the Tournament at the 2021 CAF Women's Champions League and has the opportunity to make her mark on the big stage aged 22, alongside 21-year-old teammate Princess Marfo - who is on the books of Bay FC.
Rabat's Olympic Stadium, which has a capacity of 21,000, will be one of six grounds hosting the WAFCON across five cities.
Although it will host the opening game and the final, it is not the biggest venue which will be utilised during the tournament. That honour belongs to the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, which can hold 30,000 people. This is one of two stadiums in Casablanca which will be used - the other being the Pere Jego Stadium, which can hold 10,000, making it the smallest venue at the tournament.
The Honneur Stadium in Oujda (capacity 19,800), the El Bachir Stadium in Mohammedia (15,000) and Berkane Stadium (15,000) will be the other host stadiums.
