The participants of the 15th edition of the Africa Women Cup of Nations are now known.
The final list of participants was confirmed on December 6 after the final round of qualifiers on Tuesday (Dec. 05).
12 teams will look to bring the trophy home. From big absentee Cameroon to reigning champions South Africa, 9-time champions Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo which pulled a comeback after 25 years of absence, here is all you need to know.
The participants
– Algeria
– Botswana
– Ghana
– Mali
– Morocco (host)
– Nigeria
– Senegal
– South Africa (Reining champions)
– Tanzania
– The Democratic Republic of Congo
– Tunisia
– Zambia
The dates for the next WAFCON have not been announced yet.
The 2024 WAFCON will be held in Morocco just like the previous edition.
The competition is organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the women’s national teams of Africa.
7 of the 12 teams which qualified took part in the previous edition.
Among the big names that didn’t make it to the 15th WAFCON are Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire.
Cameroon was eliminated in the 1st round of the qualifiers. The Indomitable Lionesses had not missed a single WAFCON edition in nearly 30 years. Ivory Coast also missed on the opportunity to play in the continental showdown. The team had already missed the 2022 edition.
The teams to watch include Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa that made it to the round of 16 in this year’s FIFA Women World Cup.
South Africa are the reigning champions and Nigeria a 9-time champions.
Three-time finalists Ghana and one-time bronze medallists DR Congo made a winning comeback to the competition.
The Leopards kicked out two-times champion Equatorial Guinea, beating them 2-1 after a first round which saw the teams draw.
The 2022 edition was the first edition with 12 teams, previously only 8 teams took part in the competition.
It also went down in history as the edition which broke the attendance and audience record.
Additional sources • CAF – Le Monde
