The race for the Women Africa Cup of Nations 2026 which is also to be staged in Morocco will be concluded in October with 10-time winners Nigeria up against the She-Cheetahs of Benin Republic, and Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses up against a mountain, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.
The Indomitable Lionesses failed to qualify for this year’s finals staged in Morocco, and lost 0-2 to Nigeria in a friendly match played in Abeokuta weeks before the finals now have another shot but they must tame Algeria.
Benin Republic will host the first leg against Super Falcons before Nigeria play host to the return leg with both matches have to be concluded within the window of 20th – 28th October.
To reach the final round of the qualification series, Benin Republic defeated Sierra Leone’s senior women’s team 5-2 on aggregate, winning 2-1 in Togo and 3-1 in Monrovia, as both teams had to play their home matches on away ground due to the absence of any CAF-approved match venue in both countries.
The winners of 11 final qualifying fixtures will join hosts Morocco in the final competition that has been scheduled for March 2026, and from where all four semi-finalists will pick tickets to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
Two additional slots are available for Africa through a play-off tournament, as was the case before the 2023 finals in Australia and New Zealand. Just as was the case in Down Under, the final competition in Brazil (set for 24 June – 25 July 2027) will have 32 teams.
However, world football-ruling body FIFA has increased the numbers of teams for the final competition to 48, starting with the 11th edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2031, to be co-hosted by Mexico and the United States of America.
2026 WOMEN AFCON FINAL ROUND FIXTURES
Angola Vs Malawi
DR Congo Vs South Africa
Tanzania Vs Ethiopia
Namibia Vs Zambia
Burkina Faso Vs Togo
Algeria Vs Cameroon
Egypt Vs Ghana
Kenya Vs Gambia
Benin Republic Vs Nigeria
Cape Verde Vs Mali
Senegal Vs Cote d’Ivoire
By Oluwadamilola Olaleye