JUST IN: CAF postpones 2024 WAFCON to 2025

**Cites busy women’s football calendar

By Harry Awurumibe, Africa’s No.1 Women Football Journalist

As anticipated, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has finally made a significant decision regarding the date for the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) as the competition has been rescheduled to 2025 due to a congested women’s football calendar.

Arising from a virtual CAF Executive Committee Meeting on Friday, CAF announced that the finals of the biennial continental  women’s football showpiece will now take place in Morocco from July 5 to July 26, 2025.

According to CAF, the rescheduling was necessary because of overlapping football events, including the Paris 2024 Olympics, where three African teams will participate in the women’s football event, along with qualifiers for the CAF Women’s Champions League and the main tournament later this year.

This marks the first time WAFCON will be held outside its originally scheduled year just as  similar situation occurred with the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for men, which was hosted by Côte d’Ivoire in 2024 instead of 2023.

Prompt News reports that 12 countries have already qualified for the tournament including the defending champions South Africa; hosts Morocco and nine-time African champions Nigeria.

Other qualified countries for the next WAFCON are Zambia, Algeria, Ghana, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tunisia, Senegal, Tanzania, and Mali.

Meanwhile, CAF has approved the 2025 AFCON will hold from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026 in Morocco.

The competition was originally billed for summer of 2025 but CAF had to look for a new date with the expanded FIFA Club World Cup scheduled for the same period in the year.

However, the draw for the 2025 AFCON will still hold in the Studios of Super Sport in Johannesburg, South Africa next month while the qualifying matches will run from September to October, 2024.