Women's AFCON 2026: groups announced after final draw

The final draw for this year's women's AFCON took place in Rabat, Morocco, on Thursday. The four groups will lead to some already highly anticipated encounters.

For the first time ever, 16 teams will be taking part in the Women's Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

Ahead of the highly anticipated competition's launch in March, the four groups were drawn in a ceremony in Rabat on Thursday.

The 16 teams are divided into four pots of four teams each, with every team positioned in either A, B, C or D. Morocco as the host nation in pot 1 is automatically positioned in A1, while Nigeria as the title holder is positioned in C1.

According to the African Football Confederation, "at the end of the group stage, the top two teams in each pool will qualify for the knockout stage, which includes the Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, Third-Place Play-Off, Final and the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 Qualifying Play-Offs."

The four groups are the following:

Group A: Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Kenya

Group B: South Africa, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Tanzania

Group C: Nigeria, Zambia, Egypt, Malawi

Group D: Ghana, Cameroon, Mali, Cap Verde

The WAFCON 2026 is currently set to be played from 17 March to 3 April 2026 in Morocco. Matches will take place in stadiums in Casablanca, Rabat and Fès.