Morocco Advances Women’s Football Despite WAFCON Final Loss to South Africa

African women’s football has shown progress in this 12th edition of the WAFCON, which took place from July 2 to 23 in Morocco. A first WAFCON with 12 teams instead of 8. "The fact that it took three decades for the tournament to go from 8 to 12 teams highlights the lack of investment in women’s football among the 54 member associations that make up the Confederation of African Football (CAF) which organizes the Nations Cup," analyzes RFI, noting that the European equivalent, which started with four teams in 1984, went to eight teams for its seventh edition in 1997, 12 in 2009 and 16 in 2017.

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An observation that has also prompted members of the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) to call on CAF President Patrice Motsepe to move to 16 teams within four years. "The Nations Cup is the big chance. It’s the tournament where players and coaches can get new opportunities," said Jacqui Shipanga, who coaches the Namibian women’s team. "I’m not saying 20 or a 24-team tournament - let’s stick to 16 and that would be a great legacy for the current CAF leadership."

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"This move to a larger format will be organic," Meskerem Goshime, one of CAF’s senior executives overseeing the development of women’s football in Africa, will say. "We have more than 40 member associations asking to participate in the qualifiers, if this continues, we will move to 16," she added.