- Harambee Starlets to learn 2026 WAFCON Group Stage opponents on Thursday, 15 January.
- The draw will be conducted by Confederation of African Football in Rabat Morocco.
The senior national women’s team, Harambee Starlets, will find out their 2026 WAFCON opponents when the group stage draw is conducted by the Confederation of African Football on Thursday, 15 January, after the continental body confirmed the draw dates for the tournament.
The official ceremony is set to take place in Rabat, Morocco ahead of the main event later this year.
The 2026 edition marks Starlets’ return to the continental tourney for the first time in a decade having previously qualified only in 2016 in the competition held in Cameroon.
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Harambee Starlets to learn 2026 WAFCON Group Stage opponents on Thursday
The 2026 edition of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will be historic as it features an expanded field of sixteen teams for the first time in the competition’s history moving away from the previous twelve-team format.
Kenya earned its place in this following a dominant qualification campaign in 2025, where they overcame The Gambia with a 4-1 aggregate scoreline to secure their ticket to the final tournament.
Harambee Starlets will be featuring at the WAFCON for only the second time in history after their maiden campaign in 2016.
During their debut appearance in Cameroon, the team faced a steep learning curve against established powerhouses losing all three group stage matches.
The tournament is scheduled to run from March 17 to April 3 with Morocco serving as the host nation for the second consecutive time.
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It will serve as the official African qualifying tournament for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil with the four semi finalists earning automatic qualification spots to the global showpiece.
The 16 qualified teams are: Morocco (hosts), Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
On the same day CAF will also announce the winners of the CAF outstanding women’s football awards.
These categories include the CAF Women’s Interclub Player of the Year and the CAF Women’s Club of the Year as well as the Coach of the Year.
While most continental honors were presented during the CAF Awards ceremony in November 2025, these specific women’s categories were postponed because the season had not yet concluded due to the ongoing CAF Women’s Champions League at the time.