The 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) has been postponed, with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirming new dates for the continental tournament.
In a statement, CAF announced that the competition will now be held from 25 July to 16 August 2026. The tournament had initially been scheduled to take place from 17 March to 3 April 2026 in Morocco.
Morocco was awarded the hosting rights for the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in October 2024. However, after consultations with FIFA and other stakeholders, CAF decided to adjust the calendar.
“After discussions between CAF and its partners, FIFA and other stakeholders, CAF decided to reschedule the dates of the TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON 2026 to 25 July – 16 August 2026 to ensure the success of this important women’s competition, in light of certain unforeseen circumstances,” the continental body said in the statement.
CAF added that preparations for the tournament are ongoing, expressing confidence that the event will proceed successfully despite the change in schedule.
The development comes as several of the 16 qualified teams had already begun preparations ahead of the initially planned March kick-off in Morocco. It remains unclear how the revised dates will affect teams that had already entered training camps.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s women’s national team Harambee Starlets continued their preparations recently concluding their March international friendlies.
The side suffered back-back defeats having lost 2-0 to Benin on March 2 at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan before suffering another 1-0 defeat to Ivory Coast at the Alassane Ouattara Ebimpé Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, 4 March.
Following the friendlies in Abidjan, the squad was set to travel to Miramas, France, for a residential training camp that was set to run until March 15 and with the tournament’s rescheduling it awaits to be seen if they will proceed to the training camp.
Kenya were to open their Group A campaign against hosts Morocco on March 17. The Harambee Starlets were then set to face Senegal on March 20 before concluding the group stage against Algeria on March 23, 2026.
