Africa\u2019s biggest women\u2019s football tournament is edging closer, with the countdown officially on for the 2026 Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. The tournament opens on July 26 in Rabat, where hosts Morocco will take on Kenya at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in front of what is expected to be a packed home crowd, in a match kicking off at 9:00 p.m. local time. Earlier the same day, Algeria and Senegal will meet in the other Group A fixture at Rabat\u2019s Olympic Stadium.<\/p>\n
This edition marks a genuine turning point for the women\u2019s game on the continent. For the first time in the tournament\u2019s history, the field has grown from 12 to 16 teams, giving more nations a shot at continental glory and reflecting the steady investment African football\u2019s governing body has made in the women\u2019s side of the sport in recent years.<\/p>\n
The expanded lineup features a mix of established powerhouses and newcomers. Hosts Morocco and defending champions Nigeria headline a field that also includes South Africa, Zambia, Ghana, Cameroon, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Senegal, Mali, Malawi, Burkina Faso, and Cape Verde. Matches will be staged across venues in Rabat and Casablanca, giving fans across multiple cities the chance to take in the action live.<\/p>\n
Beyond continental bragging rights, this year\u2019s competition carries extra weight because it doubles as a qualifying pathway to the 2027 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup in Brazil. The four teams that reach the semifinals will punch their tickets automatically, while sides eliminated at the quarterfinal stage still get a second chance through a separate World Cup play-off route.<\/p>\n
Morocco enters the tournament as hosts for an unprecedented third consecutive time, underlining the country\u2019s growing reputation as a reliable venue for major African football events \u2014 a role it is also expected to lean on as co-host of the 2030 men\u2019s World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal.<\/p>\n
With a bigger format, a stacked field of contenders, and World Cup qualification on the line, this edition of WAFCON is shaping up to be one of the most significant chapters yet in the growth of women\u2019s football across Africa.<\/p>\n
The post Countdown Begins as Expanded WAFCON 2026 Nears Kick-off in Morocco<\/a> appeared first on KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Africa\u2019s biggest women\u2019s football tournament is edging closer, with the countdown officially on for the 2026 Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. The tournament opens on July 26 in Rabat, where hosts Morocco will take on Kenya at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in front of what is expected to be a packed home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}