CAF have confirmed that the 2026 Women’s African Nations Cup will be expanded from twelve teams to sixteen. The tournament will decide CAF’s four automatic places at the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

To round out the field, CAF have decided that the four highest teams in the FIFA rankings who lost in the second preliminary round – Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, and Mali – will advance to the African Nations Cup.

The African Nations Cup will be played in MAR-APR 2026 in Morocco. The four semifinalists will qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, and two other teams will have another opportunity to qualify via the playoffs.