What we learned from Wafcon 2026

Algeria and Cameroon qualified for the 2027 Women's World Cup after reaching the Wafcon semi-finals but South Africa will have to navigate an inter-confederation qualifier to join them at the tournament [Caf] Cameroon became just the fourth nation to lift the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) trophy, joining Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa as winners, after demolishing Malawi 3-0 in Sunday's final. The 2026 edition in Morocco can be largely deemed a success - even after it was postponed just 12 days before the finals were initially scheduled to kick off in March. BBC Sport Africa looks at what we learned from three weeks of competition in Rabat and Casablanca. Expansion worked The decision by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to expand Wafcon to 16 teams was justified although that announcement appeared a bit last-minute, coming as it did midway through a qualifying phase designed to provide 12 sides. The Indomitable Lionesses, eliminated by Algeria in those qualifiers, were the big beneficiaries of the expansion, advancing to the tournament on the strength of their world ranking before going on to claim the title. Ivory Coast, who like Cameroon missed the last Wafcon and also reached these finals thanks to their ranking, topped their group before losing to the Algerians in the quarter-finals. All four semi-finalists booked their places at the 2027 Fifa Women's World Cup, meaning Malawi and the Algerians will make their debut at the global showpiece alongside Cameroon and Morocco. More high-level matches are required to aid the development of women's football on the continent and, on first viewing, the 16-team Wafcon format looks like it will help. A more level playing field Malawi's Temwa Chawinga won the golden boot, scoring five goals and claiming two assists to put her ahead of Cameroon's Marie Ngah Manga and Zambia's Barbra Banda [Caf] Where the 2024 Wafcon saw few upsets, this tournament provided greater competitiveness and several shock results. Tanzania bridged a gap of 65 places in the world rankings to upset South Africa in the group stage and the 2022 champions then needed a 99th-minute equaliser to salvage a point against Ivory Coast. Debutants Malawi were the fairy tale story, upsetting 10-time champions Nigeria with a 3-2 win in their opener before seeing off Ghana and Algeria to reach the final. Their success was built on the attacking prowess of the Chawinga sisters, but the Scorchers will certainly climb from 153rd in the world - and 32nd in Africa - when Fifa updates its rankings. Zambia were unfortunate not to reach the knockout stage despite amassing six points in Group C, while Mali were eliminated on goal difference after finishing level with Ghana on four points in Group D. Cape Verde, Egypt and Kenya were the only sides not to win a game, with the North Africans conceding 15 goals and the Harambee Starlets failing to find the back of the net. There were 90 goals scored in 32 games (excluding the two Women's World Cup play-offs) with the average of 2.81 goals per game an increase on the average of 2.54 from the 2024 edition. Female coach wins the day Cameroon were greeted by thousands of joyous supporters on their return to Yaounde on Monday [Michel Mvondo/BBC] Cameroon's Valentine Nguele became the fifth female coach to lead a side to glory in what was the 14th edition of the finals. She emulates Clementine Toure (Equatorial Guinea, 2008), Eucharia Uche and Florence Omagbemi (Nigeria in 2010 and 2016 respectively) and Desiree Ellis (South Africa, 2022). Her achievement is all the more impressive given that she only took over in June. "We worked as crazy since two months [ago], day and night, and this is the result," Cameroon technical co-ordinator Dimitri Lipoff told the BBC World Service. "We had no team, nothing was ready. We tried to build a kind of bubble. "This is an incredible team effort." Is dominance of Super Falcons over? Chiamaka Nnadozie and her Nigeria team-mates will be absent from next year's Women's World Cup [Caf] Nigeria came into the tournament targeting a record-extending 11th Wafcon title but the inquest into their worst-ever performance will be long-lasting. The Super Falcons paid the price for failing to win their group as they were eliminated by Cameroon in the quarter-finals. Worse was to come as they fell to a 2-1 defeat by South Africa in their World Cup play-off, meaning Nigeria will be absent from the tournament for the very first time. The West Africans have relied on talent developed and based abroad for a number of years which has masked a lack of institutional structure in the country. With Morocco investing heavily in the women's game, champions Cameroon benefitting from $2m in prize money and Algeria, Ghana and Malawi among the sides making strides, Nigeria's place at the summit of the African women's game is no longer assured. Former striker Desire Oparanozie has called for "a fresh start - a start that evaluates everything" and the four-time Wafcon winner will get her wish as part of a fact-finding committee established by the country's football federation to examine the failure. The negatives Largely empty stands were again a common sight at Wafcon [Caf] Attendances at matches not involving home nation Morocco were once again an issue, continuing a trend of all-but empty stadiums from the 2022 and 2024 editions. The late rearrangement of the finals will have played its part, while the cost of travel around the continent and the requirement for visas are long-ingrained obstacles. The use of video assistant referee checks could certainly be speeded up, with one inspection at the pitch-side monitor during Cameroon's group win over Mali lasting almost four minutes. The hosts were the beneficiaries of soft-looking penalty awards late on against both Cameroon in the semi-final and in the third-placed play-off against Algeria. But the fact that the Atlas Lionesses failed to convert nine of their 13 spot kicks - having three of four in regulation or extra time saved or missed - points to one large improvement Jorge Vilda's side could make as they hunt an elusive first title. Questions for the future Morocco have now held the past three Wafcons, but whether the kingdom has the appetite to host again remains to be seen. No announcement has been made about where or when the 2028 tournament will be staged, with the finals needing to avoid the Los Angeles Olympics from 14 to 31 July that year. A similar clash with the Paris Games led to Wafcon 2024 being delayed until July 2025. A regular and viable slot in the Fifa calendar needs to be found. Attention now switches to the preliminaries for LA 2028, which recommence in October and continue in three international windows next year, with 32 sides competing for two coveted places at the Games. South Africa and Ghana, meanwhile, will enter an inter-confederation qualifier for next year's Women's World Cup.