The Final Draw for the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) Morocco 2026 will take place in Rabat on Thursday, 15 January 2025, the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) has confirmed.

The qualified teams for the competition are hosts Morocco, alongside Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

The event will also feature the announcement of the remaining winners in the CAF Awards 2025 Women’s Categories, including the CAF Women’s Coach of the Year and other top honours in women’s football.

The draw will mark a milestone for the continental tournament, which will feature an expanded 16-team field for the first time in its history.

Ahead of the draw, CAF will announce the winners of three outstanding women’s football awards: CAF Women’s Coach of the Year, CAF Women’s Interclub Player of the Year, and CAF Women’s Club of the Year.

The awards were initially scheduled to be presented during the CAF Awards 2025 ceremony but were postponed as the women’s football season had not concluded, owing to the ongoing CAF Women’s Champions League. CAF earlier this week officially reopened voting for the three categories.

CAF has reiterated that while it does not participate in the voting process, it oversees and coordinates the exercise.

Voting for the CAF Women’s Interclub Player of the Year involves members of the media, as well as captains and coaches from teams participating in the CAF Women’s Champions League.

Photo: Super Eagles captain Wilfred Ndidi

Super Eagles captain Wilfred Ndidi has pledged to pay all outstanding winning bonuses at the ongoing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco if the Federal Government and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) fail to settle the payments before Saturday.

Despite assurances from the Federal Government and the National Sports Commission (NSC), the three-time African champions are yet to receive winning bonuses for their first four matches at AFCON 2025.

“I’ve been pushing the team to train and play the game vs Algeria. I’ve been doing this since the second game,” Ndidi was quoted by BBC journalist Oluwashina Okeleji on Thursday in a post on X.

“I’ve now made a commitment to the staff and players that I’ll personally pay the bonuses if the authorities fail to before Saturday. I don’t want these unpaid bonuses to affect our preparations.”

Recall that the Super Eagles on Wednesday threatened to boycott training and delay travel to Marrakech over unpaid bonuses for their three group-stage matches and the round of 16 at the tournament.

The team is owed win bonuses for victories over Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Mozambique. Reports indicated that the players warned they would not train or travel unless the issue was resolved.

The Super Eagles have arrived in Marrakech ahead of their high-profile 2025 AFCON quarter-final clash against Algeria’s Desert Foxes.

The team landed at the Marrakech-Menara Airport at about 4.14 p.m. on Thursday after a one hour, 14 minutes flight from Fès–Saïs Airport.

The Eagles are camped at the Savoy Le Grand Hotel, Marrakech, where players and officials will stay throughout their assignment.

Promise Efoghe, the team’s Media Officer, told NAN that the squad arrived safely and had shifted focus to recovery and preparation.

“We had a smooth trip from Fès despite the tight schedule, and the focus now is on recovery and preparation,” Efoghe said.

He disclosed that all the media engagements earlier scheduled for Thursday were postponed to allow the players adequate rest.

“Given the late arrival, the players requested time to rest, and we urge everyone to respect that decision,” he said.

Efoghe assured that updates on the team’s programme would be communicated promptly.

(NAN)