CAF confirms women’s football calendar dates for 2025 and 2026

By Matlhomola Morake
6th December 2024

The Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) have scheduled the 2026 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations for March 2026 – this will be six months after the completion of the 2025 edition of the women’s continental competition.

According to the calendar, 2025 and 2026 will be busy for women’s football, with action all the way from January to December, with the exception of June – most likely set aside to accommodate the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025 and the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

WAFCON:

A CAF Women’s Competition Calendar seen by SABC Sport, covers 2025 and 2026.

It confirms that the 2026 WAFCON will continue to serve as the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers – with only the top four gaining automatic qualification to Brazil. South Africa, Morocco, Zambia and Nigeria were Africa’s representatives in 2023 in Australia and New Zealand.

Spain are the defending champions.

For the 2026 WAFCON, countries will start contesting for spots between 17 and 26 February for the first-round knockout.

READ: Bantwana coach says U17 COSAFA Cup crucial for upcoming World Cup qualifiers

The second round will be played in October, between 20 and 28, with the overall winners securing their spot for the tournament in March 2026 on yet to be confirmed dates.

South Africa, who won their maiden continental trophy in 2022, are the title holders.

Under-17

With the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup now going to be played annually from next year, nations will have a heavy schedule as they will be expected to play three rounds before booking their spot at the tournament proper.

Under-U17 qualifiers for women start in January, for the first-round knockout leg. March and April have been set aside for the second and third rounds respectively, with the last four teams standing joining hosts Morocco and 11 other nations for the tournament scheduled for 17 October to 8 November 2025.

The 2026 edition will follow almost the same pattern, with the qualifiers kicking off January 2026 but four knockout rounds played. April, May and July are the other dates for the competition. The tournament has been penciled in for October/November 2026. Five African countries, including hosts Morocco, will be among the 16 nations participating.

Under-20:

Action for the 2026 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers kicks off in May next year with four knockout rounds to be played. The second and third rounds are set for September 2025 and February 2026. The qualifying round will be played in May 2026, while the tournament has been scheduled for September 2026.

A total of 24 teams will be on show, including hosts Poland. Africa has been allocated four slots.

Champions League:

The zonal qualifiers for the 2025 CAF Women’s Champions League have been scheduled to be played in July/August 2025 and 2026 for all six CAF zones.

Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies will be representing South Africa at the 2025 COSAFA qualifiers after claiming the 2024 Hollywoodbets Super League title a record five times. The Brazilians failed to win their third Champions League gold after being knocked out in the group stages this year and will now have to go through the difficult route of the COSAFA qualifiers.

The CWCL organisers are yet to confirm the dates for the final tournaments but have set aside the October/November/December months both for 2025 and 2026 for competition.

KEY DATES:

WAFCON Final Tournaments: