About a year later than scheduled, the 15th edition of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) is finally set to kick off on July 5. The tournament will be held in Morocco yet again with 12 teams starting out in four groups, from which the top two and two best third-placed teams advance to the knockouts.

#60

3 previous appearances; best result: runners-up (2022)

Morocco will become the first nation to host consecutive WAFCON editions and will even complete a hat-trick in next time around. They have invested heavily in infrastructure development and promoting the women’s game, so they will be keen to reap material rewards now.

Morocco narrowly missed out on qualifying for their first-ever Olympics with a playoff final defeat to Zambia last year. They have since gone on an impressive run in which they have won all but two of 13 friendlies, though the vast majority of their opponents have been weaker teams.

Jorge Vila, who won the last World Cup with Spain but was dismissed soon thereafter in the aftermath of the Luis Rubiales scandal, has been the Atlas Lionesses’ coach since October 2023. So, this will be his first major tournament and first real test in charge of the team.

Captain and all-time leading appearance-maker Ghizlaine Chebbak turned 34 earlier this year, so this will likely be one of her last chances to lift a major trophy with the national team. Her on-ball quality will be key to Morocco’s attacking play as she will often drive the team forward. With 23 international goals to her name, she is now just five away from that record as well.

Having finished as runners-up last time around, Morocco can only aim to do one better this year. They will certainly not be short of support on home soil and head into the tournament as one of the favorites, so the pressure will be on from day one.

#65

4 previous appearances; best result: third place (2022)

Zambia impressed at the last WAFCON and might be in a position to repeat the trick this time. Former head coach Bruce Mwape, who had been accused of sexual misconduct for multiple years and was banned from private contact with players at the last Olympics amid an ongoing investigation, was finally replaced earlier this year with Swisswoman Nora Häuptle taking charge. This tournament will mark her first competitive games with the team.

The Copper Queens qualified for last year’s Olympics ahead of the WAFCON hosts but went on to endure a pointless campaign, though they did put up a very good fight in a 6-5 loss to Australia most notably. Some of their subsequent friendly results are not worth reading into too much as they were without their US-based stars, so Zambia might be a bit of an unknown quantity at this tournament.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Barbra Banda is Zambia’s best and therefore most important player. The 25-year-old forward has been tearing through defenses for fun at the club level over the last few seasons, thus leading the Orlando Pride to their first NWSL title last year. Her off-ball movement, pace and clinical finishing are sure to strike fear into any and all opponents.

Zambia will be expected to progress to the knockouts at the very least, where a lot will rest on the sturdiness of their defense. They are not short of attacking firepower including and beyond Banda, but they will need to ensure they do not give anything away too cheaply if they are to go toe-to-toe with the favorites.

#81

2 previous appearances; best result: quarterfinalists (2022)

In their second appearance at the WAFCON, Senegal won two of their three group games to advance to the knockouts in 2022. A repeat of that exact record would represent quite a big shock in Group A, but they could still have a good shot at getting out of the group.

Senegal most recently suffered a defeat in the final of a zonal West African cup competition, though that was with quite a rotated squad. Prior to that, they managed to draw with South Africa and Tanzania, and beat DR Congo a couple of times in some friendlies last year, but that stretch of games ended with a seven-goal thrashing at the hands of Morocco.

The Lionesses of Teranga have a few quite experienced players in their squad, but the one to watch could well be young Hapsatou Malado Diallo. The 20-year-old striker was consistently among the goals in recent matches and is fresh after sealing a transfer to Mexican side FC Juárez, who have a very impressive track record with sub-Saharan talent. So, this could well be a breakout tournament for her.

Given the nature of the WAFCON’s format, all the teams that win even one group stage match will likely advance to the knockouts. Senegal will be the underdogs against the first two teams in the group, but they should aim to give themselves a good chance of reaching the quarterfinals by winning the other game.

#109

WAFCON History: 3 previous appearances; best result: third place (1998)

DR Congo are back at the WAFCON for the first time in over a decade. They have not gotten past the group stage since they made their debut prior to the turn of the century, and face quite an uphill task to change that record.

DR Congo’s friendly results from 2024 do not make for encouraging reading as they lost twice each to both Morocco and Senegal, though they were able to keep the scorelines quite close. Earlier this year, though, they scored an important win over Botswana in WAFCON 2026 qualifying which should be a source of some encouragement despite consecutive losses to Tanzania in recent friendlies.

Merveille Kanjinga was one of the stars of the show as TP Mazembe won their first CAF Women’s Champions League title last year. On the back of her impressive showings at the tournament, she earned a move to French giants Paris Saint-Germain. The 22-year-old forward has already shown signs of being a pretty well-rounded player, though her finishing can be a little streaky at times. If she is on her A-game, though, she will be a real problem for opposing defenses.

As the lowest-ranked team in Group A by some margin, DR Congo have to be considered the underdogs. However, they have shown themselves capable of putting up a good fight of late, and could well look to target Senegal to come away with a memorable result.