The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2026 is set to take place in Morocco in July on dates yet to be revealed. The journey to the tournament is already underway, and the tournament’s first round is ending. The first round was played in a home-and-away format. Elimination was based on aggregate score and after the second leg, if the teams tied, a penalty shootout was held.
Upsets
Equatorial Guinea women’s national football team, the Nzalang Femenino, was shocked by the Twiga Stars of Tanzania, who will proceed to play against Ethiopia in October in the second round of the qualification tournament. Equatorial Guinea is one of the three countries to win a WAFCON championship, alongside Nigeria and South Africa. Equatorial Guinea have won the tournament twice in 2008 and 2012. They fell short to Tanzania in the first round’s first and second leg. Tanzania built momentum in its home game to secure a 3-1 win, which led the Nzalang Femenino into the second leg with a deficit of two aggregates. The second leg game at Ethiopia’s home stadium, Estadio de Malabo, had an exciting start, with Guinea’s Dorine Chuigoué scoring in the first nine minutes.
However, coming out of the second half, Tanzania’s Enekia Kasonga added more pressure to the Guinea side when she netted in the 73rd minute. Equatorial Guinea has failed to reach the WAFCON tournament since 2018.
Tie Breaker Matchups
Only two matchups ended up in tiebreaker penalty shootouts: Angola vs. Zimbabwe and Uganda vs. Ethiopia.
In the first leg, Angola won 2-1 against Zimbabwe, but in the second leg, Zimbabwe won 2-1 tying the aggregate to 3-3. The teams went for a penalty shootout and Angola came out victorious with 5-4. Angola will play against Malawi in the second round of the qualification tournament.
Uganda had a good display in their home game against Ethiopia, securing a win of 2-0, but in the away game, Ethiopia tied the series 2-2 after winning 2-0. The teams had a penalty shootout and Ethiopia won 5-4. Ethiopia will play against Tanzania in the second round of the tournament.
Other Results
The teams that won both home and away automatically qualified for the second round. The scores are presented in aggregates.
Botswana 0 – 2 DR Congo
Eswatini 0 – 4 Namibia
Burundi 1 – 5 Burkina Faso
Djibouti 0 – 10 Togo
South Sudan 0 – 8 Algeria
Rwanda 2 – 3 Egypt
Kenya 1 – 0 Tunisia
Niger 1 – 4 Gambia
Benin 5 – 2 Sierra Leone
Guinea 3 – 6 Cape Verde
Gabon 1 – 10 Mali
Malawi earned a Bye to the second round after Congo was banned from international football tournaments. Chad failed to show face for the games and Senegal was granted a win to proceed to the second round.
