African soccer’s CAF governing body has postponed the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) just 12 days before its scheduled start, citing “unforeseen circumstances”.
The tournament, which will be hosted in Morocco, was due to run from March 17 through April 3, but will now be pushed back until later in the year, with a new start date set as July 25, with the final set for August 16.
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CAF added that: “Preparations for the CAF WAFCON 2026 are underway and all the parties are confident that it will be very successful.”
A number of teams have already traveled to Morocco in preparation for the tournament.
Morocco was awarded hosting rights back in October 2024, and hosted the men’s edition of the Africa Cup of Nations across December 2025 and January 2026.
The 2024 edition of WAFCON, which took place in 2025, was also staged in Morocco through July, in order to accommodate it in the increasingly congested world soccer calendar and avoid a clash with the Olympic Games.
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By GlobalDataThese worries have manifested once again and have generated criticism towards CAF’s organization of the biennial tournament.
South Africa’s minister for sport, Gayton McKenzie, spoke on the issue, accusing Morocco of holding CAF hostage.
He said: “I'll make it clear that if Morocco is going to host AFCON, let them do so, we shall support them, but if they are not going to do that, they must tell us now.
“If they are not ready, we want to tell them; we are not the country with no stadiums, we are not the country with no infrastructure, and we, as South Africa, will never be held hostage by countries that have less than what we have.”
“We will wait for nobody, and we won't allow our women and women's football to be treated in such a fashion."
In all, this would be the third consecutive time that Morocco has staged WAFCON (having held it in 2022 also), with 2026 set to be the first with an expanded 16-team format.
