WAFCON: CAF increases number of participating countries; how will it affect Nigeria’s Super Falcons?

The Super Falcons won the last edition of the WAFCON in Morocco…

The Confederation of African Football has announced the expansion of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) from 12 to 16 teams, Soccernet.ng reports.

In the past decade, CAF has been increasing the number of participants for its competitions, and the WAFCON has not been left out.

In 2022, the tournament was expanded from 8 to 12 teams. And now, it has been confirmed that from next year, the number of participating countries will be increased by four to 16 teams.

However, the qualifiers for the 2026 edition were completed last month, with the 12 countries already confirmed.

But in a surprising move, which has caused controversy in some sections of the media, CAF announced that the remaining four slots will be alloted to the Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, & Egypt.

Can @CAF_Online do me the favour of not doing things that compel me to criticise them so regularly? How can you arbitrarily select #Cameroon, #CoteDIvoire, #Egypt & #Mali to complete the 16 teams playing at the 2026 #WAFCON in #Morocco?

How can you use the #FIFA rankings to… pic.twitter.com/VJcQAWD1bi

— Osasu Obayiuwana (@osasuo) November 5, 2025

In their communique, which was released on Wednesday, CAF revealed that the four selected teams were the highest-ranked teams according to FIFA rankings, from those eliminated in the final qualifying round.

How Will CAF's Decision Affect Nigeria's Super Falcons?

Despite the decision to increase the number of participating teams to 16, the WAFCON won't necessarily change much.

It will now be four groups of four teams. The best two teams will qualify for the quarterfinals, but unlike their last edition, there won't be space for any best second-placed team in the knockout rounds.

The Super Falcons, who are the record winners of the tournament with 10 titles, should not really be affected by this new update. It will still be the same number of games from the group stage till the final.

However, the return of a team like Cameroon, who have occasionally caused some troubles for the Super Falcons might be a source of worry.

Although they haven't cost Nigeria in the competition, they are one team that can push the Super Falcons, who can be underwhelming at times.

The Super Falcons are still favourites heading into the 2026 edition of the tournament. But they still have to continue to improve, so as to maintain the gap between them and other countries.

The 2026 WAFCON will begin on March 17 and end on April 3 in Morocco.