Women's Africa Cup of Nations

For the men's tournament, see Africa Cup of Nations.

The Women's Africa Cup of Nations, also called the TotalEnergies Women's Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons and abbreviated to WAFCON, is an international women's football competition held every two years and sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was first contested in 1991, but was not held biennially until 1998. Nigeria is the most successful nation in the tournament's history, having won a record 11 titles, meaning they have won all but three of the previous tournaments. The three tournaments not won by Nigeria were won by Equatorial Guinea and South Africa; Equatorial Guinea won the two competitions in which it were the host.

Women’s Africa Cup of Nations

Organising body	CAF
Founded	1991; 32 years ago (1991)
Region	Africa
Number of teams	12 (finals)
Current champions	South Africa (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Nigeria (11 titles)
Website	cafonline.com/womenscupnations
2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations

The opening ceremony in 2016
Tournaments
1991 1995 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024

The competition has served as a qualifying tournament for the FIFA Women's World Cup every other tournament since its inception in 1991.

History

In 2000, hosts South Africa met three-time champions Nigeria in the final game of the tournament. After Nigeria finished the first half ahead 1–0, Nigeria's Stella Mbachu scored a second goal in the 72nd minute and the home crowd realized there was no coming back. Supporters began hurling bottles and other debris at officials and Nigerian players. The match was abandoned after three attempts at restarts were all interrupted by further disturbances. Riot police began fighting battles with bottle-throwing supporters about 40 minutes after the goal had been allowed, throwing tear gas into the crowd to break up the disturbance. The game and the tournament were awarded to Nigeria. The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1]

Nomination

On 6 August 2015, the CAF Executive Committee decided to change the name of the tournament from the African Women's Championship to the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, similar to the men's version, Africa Cup of Nations.^[2]

Sponsorship

In July 2016, Total has secured an eight-year sponsorship package from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to support 10 of its principal competitions.^[3] In 2021, Total was rebranded to TotalEnergies but it retained its sponsorship for CAF competitions. Due to this sponsorship, the Africa Women Cup of Nations is named "TotalEnergies Africa Women Cup of Nations".

Format

Since the 1998 edition, this competition has been held in two phases: a qualification phase (or called the elimination phase) and a final tournament. The host country of the final tournament is automatically qualified, and in the first editions the defending champion was also qualified for the following tournament.

Qualifying

The qualification phase has evolved over time according to the increasing number of nations affiliated to the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was set up from 1998, during the first two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations,...............

Final phase

Only the hosts received an automatic qualification spot, with the other 11 teams qualifying through a qualification tournament. At the finals, the 12 teams were drawn into three groups of four teams each. The teams in each group played a single round robin.

After the group stage, the top two teams and the two best third-placed teams advanced to the quarter-finals. The winners of the quarter-finals advanced to the semi-finals. The losers of the semi-finals played in a third place play-off, while winners of the semi-finals played in the final.

Trophy and medals

Throughout the history of the Africa Cup of Nations, three trophies have been awarded to the winners of the competition

Results

Ed.	Year	Host nation		Final				Semi-finals Losers
				Winner	Score	Second place
1	1991	Home sites		Nigeria	2–0	Cameroon		Guinea	and	Zambia (withdrew)
					4–0
2	1995	Home sites		Nigeria	4–1	South Africa		Angola	and	Ghana
					7–1
Ed.	Year	Host nation		Final				Third place match
				Winner	Score	Second place		Third place	Score	Fourth place
3	1998	Nigeria		Nigeria	2–0	Ghana		DR Congo	3–3 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p)	Cameroon
4	2000	South Africa		Nigeria	2–0 (abd)	South Africa		Ghana	6–3	Zimbabwe
5	2002	Nigeria		Nigeria	2–0	Ghana		Cameroon	3–0	South Africa
6	2004	South Africa		Nigeria	5–0	Cameroon		Ghana	0–0 (a.e.t.) (6–5 p)	Ethiopia
7	2006	Nigeria		Nigeria	1–0	Ghana		South Africa	2–2 (5–4 p)	Cameroon
8	2008	Equatorial Guinea		Equatorial Guinea	2–1	South Africa		Nigeria	1–1 (5–4 p)	Cameroon
9	2010	South Africa		Nigeria	4–2	Equatorial Guinea		South Africa	2–0	Cameroon
10	2012	Equatorial Guinea		Equatorial Guinea	4–0	South Africa		Cameroon	1–0	Nigeria
11	2014	Namibia		Nigeria	2–0	Cameroon		Ivory Coast	1–0	South Africa
12	2016	Cameroon^[4]		Nigeria	1–0	Cameroon		Ghana	1–0	South Africa
13	2018	Ghana		Nigeria	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	South Africa		Cameroon	4–2	Mali
–	2020			(Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic)^[1]
14	2022	Morocco^[5]		South Africa	2–1	Morocco		Zambia	1–0	Nigeria
15	2024	Morocco^[6]		TBD				TBD

Note: abd – match abandoned in the 73rd minute

Statistics

Teams reaching the top four

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Third-place	Fourth-place	Total top four
Nigeria	11 (1991, 1995, 1998*, 2000, 2002*, 2004, 2006*, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018)	–	1 (2008)	2 (2012, 2022)	14
Equatorial Guinea	2 (2008*, 2012*)	1 (2010)	–	–	3
South Africa	1 (2022)	5 (1995, 2000*, 2008, 2012, 2018)	2 (2006, 2010*)	3 (2002, 2014, 2016)	11
Cameroon	–	4 (1991, 2004, 2014, 2016*)	3 (2002, 2012, 2018)	4 (1998, 2006, 2008, 2010)	11
Ghana	–	3 (1998, 2002, 2006)	4 (1995**, 2000, 2004, 2016)	–	7
Morocco	–	1 (2022*)	–	–	1
Guinea	–	–	1 (1991**)	–	1
Angola	–	–	1 (1995**)	–	1
DR Congo	–	–	1 (1998)	–	1
Ivory Coast	–	–	1 (2014)	–	1
Zambia	–	–	1 (2022)	–	1
Zimbabwe	–	–	–	1 (2000)	1
Ethiopia	–	–	–	1 (2004)	1
Mali	–	–	–	1 (2018)	1

* hosts

** losing semi-finals

Summary (1991–2022)

Rank	Team	Part	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Nigeria	14	73	57	9	7	223	32	+191	180
2	South Africa	13	62	31	8	23	102	83	+19	101
3	Cameroon	13	58	24	14	20	73	83	-10	86
4	Ghana	12	40	19	7	14	64	45	+19	64
5	Equatorial Guinea	5	21	13	2	6	46	39	+7	41
6	Morocco	3	12	5	2	5	14	27	-13	17
7	Mali	7	23	5	2	16	25	59	-34	17
8	Zambia	4	14	4	4	6	19	28	-9	16
9	Zimbabwe	4	14	2	5	7	13	28	-15	11
10	Ivory Coast	2	8	3	1	4	15	15	0	10
11	DR Congo	3	11	2	3	6	14	31	-17	9
12	Senegal	2	7	2	1	4	4	9	-5	7
13	Ethiopia	3	11	1	4	6	6	24	-18	7
14	Algeria	5	15	2	1	12	13	39	-26	7
15	Uganda	2	6	1	2	3	7	13	-6	5
16	Tunisia	2	7	1	1	5	7	10	-3	4
17	Botswana	1	4	1	0	3	5	7	-2	3
18	Namibia	1	3	1	0	2	3	5	-2	3
19	Congo	1	3	1	0	2	3	6	-3	3
20	Egypt	2	6	1	0	5	3	21	-18	3
21	Angola	2	5	0	2	3	6	9	-3	2
22	Burkina Faso	1	3	0	1	2	2	4	-2	1
23	Togo	1	3	0	1	2	3	9	-6	1
24	Mozambique	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	Tanzania	1	3	0	0	3	3	8	-5	0
26	Réunion	1	3	0	0	3	2	7	-5	0
27	Guinea	1	2	0	0	2	0	7	-7	0
28	Burundi	1	3	0	0	3	3	11	-8	0
29	Kenya	1	3	0	0	3	2	10	-8	0
30	Sierra Leone	1	2	0	0	2	0	11	-11	0

Top scorers (Golden boot) by year

Player	Country	Year of Tournament	Number of goals	Ref
Nkiru Okosieme	Nigeria	1998	3 goals
Mercy Akide	Nigeria	2000	7 goals
Perpetua Nkwocha	Nigeria	2002	4 goals	^[7]
Perpetua Nkwocha	Nigeria	2004	9 goals
Perpetua Nkwocha	Nigeria	2006	7 goals
Genoveva Añonma	Equatorial Guinea	2008	6 goals	^[8]
Perpetua Nkwocha	Nigeria	2010	11 goals
Genoveva Añonma	Equatorial Guinea	2012	6 goals
Desire Oparanozie	Nigeria	2014	5 goals
Asisat Oshoala	Nigeria	2016	6 goals
Thembi Kgatlana	South Africa	2018	5 goals
Ghizlane Chebbak Rasheedat Ajibade Hildah Magaia	Morocco   Nigeria   South Africa	2022	3 goals

Best player (Golden ball) by year

Player	Country	Year of Tournament	Ref
		1998
		2000
		2002
Perpetua Nkwocha	Nigeria	2004	^[9]
Portia Modise	South Africa	2006	^[10]
Genoveva Añonma	Equatorial Guinea	2008	^[11]
Stella Mbachu	Nigeria	2010	^[12]
		2012
Asisat Oshoala	Nigeria	2014	^[13]
Gabrielle Onguéné	Cameroon	2016	^[14]
Thembi Kgatlana	South Africa	2018
Ghizlane Chebbak	Morocco	2022

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Africa Women Cup of Nations hat-tricks

Participating nations

Legend

1st – Champions 2nd – Runners-up 3rd – Third place 4th – Fourth place SF – Semi-finals QF – Quarter-finals GS – Group stage

q – Qualified  •  – Did not qualify  ×  – Did not enter  ×  – Withdrew before qualification     — Withdrew/Disqualified after qualification     – Hosts

Team	1991	1995	1998	2000	2002	2004	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014	2016	2018	2022	2024	Years
Algeria	×	×	×	•	×	GS	GS	•	GS	×	GS	•	GS	•		5
Angola	×	SF	×	×	GS	×	•		×	•	×	×	×	•		2
Botswana	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	QF		1
Burkina Faso	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS		1
Burundi	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS		1
Cameroon	2nd	×	4th	GS	3rd	2nd	4th	4th	4th	3rd	2nd	2nd	3rd	QF		13
Congo		×	×	×	×	•	•	GS	×	×	×	×	•	•		1
DR Congo	×	×	3rd	×	•	×	GS	•	•	GS	×	×	×	×		3
Egypt	×	×	GS	•	×	×	•	×	×	•	•	GS		•		2
Equatorial Guinea	×	×	×	×	•	•	GS	1st	2nd	1st	•	•	GS	•		5
Ethiopia	×	×	×	×	GS	4th	×	×	•	GS	•	•	•	•		3
Ghana	QF	SF	2nd	3rd	2nd	3rd	2nd	GS	GS	•	GS	3rd	GS	•		12
Guinea	SF	×	•	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	×	•	×	•		1
Ivory Coast	×	×	×	×	•	×	•	•	•	GS	3rd	•	•	•		2
Kenya	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	×	×	•	GS	•	•		1
Mali	×	×	×	×	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	•	•	GS	4th	•		7
Morocco	×	×	GS	GS	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	2nd	Q	4
Mozambique	×	×		×	×	×	•	×	×	•	×	×	×	•		0
Namibia	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•		1
Nigeria	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	3rd	1st	4th	1st	1st	1st	4th		14
Réunion	×	×	×	GS	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×		1
Senegal		×	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	QF		2
Sierra Leone	×	QF	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	×	×	×	•		1
South Africa	×	2nd	GS	2nd	4th	GS	3rd	2nd	3rd	2nd	4th	4th	2nd	1st		13
Tanzania	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•		1
Togo	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS		1
Tunisia	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS	•	•	•	•		QF		2
Uganda	×	×	•	GS	•	×	×	×	×	•	×	×		GS		2
Zambia		QF	×	×	•	×	•	•	×	•	GS	•	GS	3rd		4
Zimbabwe		×	×	4th	GS	GS	×	•	×	•	•	GS	•	•		4
Total (30 Teams)	4	6	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	12

Most tournaments hosted

Hosts	Nation	Year(s)
3 times	Nigeria	1998, 2002, 2006
	South Africa	2000, 2004, 2010
2 times	Equatorial Guinea	2008, 2012
	Morocco	2022, 2024
1 time	Namibia	2014
	Cameroon	2016
	Ghana	2018

See also

•  Football in Africa portal
•  Women's association football portal

• CAF Women's Champions League
• African U-20 Women's World Cup qualification
• African U-17 Cup of Nations for Women
• FIFA Women's World Cup
• FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
• FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup

References

1. "2020 Africa women's cup of nations cancelled". Goal.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
2. "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee on 6 August 2015". CAF. 9 August 2015.
3. AfricaNews (2017-04-18). "Total to sponsor CAF competitions for the next eight years". Africanews. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
4. . Archived from the original on 2014-10-22. Retrieved 2014-10-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee – 15 January 2021". CAF. 15 January 2021.
6. "Again, CAF approves Morocco as WAFCON host In 2024". blueprint.ng. 10 August 2022.
7. "2002 AWC". Retrieved 29 October 2014.
8. "Banyana striker crowned Woman Footballer of the Year". Retrieved 26 October 2014.
9. "Star bio: Nigeria's Perpetua Nkwocha". Retrieved 15 June 2011.
10. "Portia Modise: Centurion in numbers". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
11. "SA second Ref". Retrieved 26 October 2014.
12. "Africa Women Championship". Retrieved 26 October 2014.^{[permanent dead link]}
13. http://sportpageng.com/asisat-oshoala-caf-awards-good-for-my-career/^{[permanent dead link]}
14. . Archived from the original on 2016-12-30. Retrieved 2016-12-29.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Africa Women Cup of Nations.

• Official website  
• Africa – Women's Championship at the RSSSF