2026 African U-17 Women's World Cup qualification

African Qualifiers of
the U-17 Women's World Cup 2026
Tournament details
Dates10 April – 12 July 2026
Teams31 (from 1 confederation)
← 2025
2027 →

The 2026 African U-17 Women's World Cup qualification is the upcoming under-17 women's national football team competition that will determine the four teams joining the automatically qualified host team Morocco in the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup final tournament. Players born on or after 1 January 2009 are eligible to participate.

Format

The qualification compeitition consists of three rounds of home-and-away matches. Thirty teams will enter the first round, with one team exempted based on its performance across the last five editions of the qualification competition. The 15 winners advance to the second round, where they are joined by the exempted team. These 16 teams compete for eight places in the third round. The remaining eight teams then face off in four two-legged ties, with the four winners qualifying for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.[1]

Schedule

Schedule
Round Leg Date(s) Teams
First round First 10–12 April 2026 30
Second 17–19 April 2026
Second round First 22–24 May 2026 16
Second 29–31 May 2026
Third round First 3–5 July 2026 8
Second 10–12 July 2026

Entrants

A total of 31 (out of 53; excluding Morocco) CAF member associations registered teams for the competition. Malawi make their qualification debuts at/in this edition.[2]

The following 22 associations have either previously fielded or currently field a women's under-17 team, or do not have one but opted not to participate:

  •  Angola
  •  Cape Verde
  •  Chad
  •  Comoros
  •  Congo
  •  Egypt
  •  Equatorial Guinea
  •  Eswatini
  •  Eritrea
  •  Gabon
  •  Gambia
  •  Guinea-Bissau
  •  Lesotho
  •  Madagascar
  •  Mali
  •  Mauritania
  •  Mauritius
  •  Mozambique
  •  São Tomé and Príncipe
  •  Seychelles
  •  Somalia
  •  Sudan

Draw

External videos
African Qualifiers – Draw
Qualifiers of the U17 WWC 2026 - Draw

The draw was held on 10 January 2026 in Rabat, Morocco at 13:00 (UTC+1).[3] The draw was conducted by Jacqui Shipanga.

Seeding

Seeding is determined according to criteria established by FIFA for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, based on team performances across the last five editions, with greater weight given to the most recent tournaments. To take geographical considerations into account, neighboring zones are grouped where possible depending on the number of participating teams. The draw is organized into four pots, consisting of the two highest-seeded and the two lowest-seeded teams.

Bye to second round
 Nigeria (Highest ranked)
Pot 1[a] Pot 2[b] Pot 3[c] Pot 4[d]

To maintain geographical balance, teams from Pot 1 were paired with those from Pot 2, while Pot 3 teams were paired with Pot 4.

First round

All match times listed are GMT, as listed by CAF. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given in parentheses.

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Niger  Guinea10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Burkina Faso  Benin10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Sierra Leone  Ivory Coast10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Tunisia  Senegal10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Algeria  Cameroon10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Togo  Ghana10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Libya  Liberia10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Rwanda  Zambia10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
DR Congo  Djibouti10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
South Sudan  Ethiopia10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Malawi  Burundi10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Botswana  Tanzania10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Central African Republic  South Africa10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Zimbabwe  Uganda10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Namibia  Kenya10–12 Apr17–19 Apr
Niger Match 1 Guinea
Report
Guinea Match 2 Niger
Report
Burkina Faso Match 3 Benin
Report
Benin Match 4 Burkina Faso
Report
Sierra Leone Match 5 Ivory Coast
Report
Ivory Coast Match 6 Sierra Leone
Report
Tunisia Match 7 Senegal
Report
Senegal Match 8 Tunisia
Report
Algeria Match 9 Cameroon
Report
Cameroon Match 10 Algeria
Report
Togo Match 11 Ghana
Report
Ghana Match 12 Togo
Report
Libya Match 13 Liberia
Report
Liberia Match 14 Libya
Report
Rwanda Match 15 Zambia
Report
Zambia Match 16 Rwanda
Report
DR Congo Match 17 Djibouti
Report
Djibouti Match 18 DR Congo
Report
South Sudan Match 19 Ethiopia
Report
Ethiopia Match 20 South Sudan
Report
Malawi Match 21 Burundi
Report
Burundi Match 22 Malawi
Report
Botswana Match 23 Tanzania
Report
Tanzania Match 24 Botswana
Report
Central African Republic Match 25 South Africa
Report
South Africa Match 26 Central African Republic
Report
Zimbabwe Match 27 Uganda
Report
Uganda Match 28 Zimbabwe
Report
Namibia Match 29 Kenya
Report
Kenya Match 30 Namibia
Report

Second round

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
(Niger or Guinea) Nigeria22–24 May29–31 May
(Burkina Faso or Benin)(Sierra Leone or Ivory Coast)22–24 May29–31 May
(Tunisia or Senegal)(Algeria or Cameroon)22–24 May29–31 May
(Togo or Ghana)(Libya or Liberia)22–24 May29–31 May
(Rwanda or Zambia)(DR Congo or Djibouti)22–24 May29–31 May
(South Sudan or Ethiopia)(Malawi or Burundi)22–24 May29–31 May
(Botswana or Tanzania)(CAR or South Africa)22–24 May29–31 May
(Zimbabwe or Uganda)(Namibia or Kenya)22–24 May29–31 May

Third round

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Winners of matches 31/32Winners of matches 33/343–5 Jul10–12 July
Winners of matches 35/36Winners of matches 37/383–5 Jul10–12 July
Winners of matches 39/40Winners of matches 41/423–5 Jul10–12 July
Winners of matches 43/44Winners of matches 45/463–5 Jul10–12 July

Notes

  1. ^ Pot consisted of the highest-ranked teams from WAFU A, WAFU B, and UNIFFAC.
  2. ^ Pot consisted of the lowest-ranked teams from WAFU A, WAFU B, and UNAF.
  3. ^ Pot consisted of the highest-ranked teams from CECAFA and COSAFA
  4. ^ Pot consisted of the lowest-ranked teams from CECAFA, COSAFA, and UNIFFAC.

See also

References

  1. ^ "CAF confirms draw procedures for FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Morocco 2026 qualifiers". CAFOnline.com. 9 January 2026. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  2. ^ Nsunza, Collins (13 January 2026). "Malawi U17 Girls to face Burundi". The Malawi Daily Times. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  3. ^ "FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup 2026 African Qualifiers Draw unveils road to Morocco". CAFOnline.com. 10 January 2026. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.