WAFCON: Women's Continental Football Guide, History and Winners

WAFCON is the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship for Africa's women's national teams, which the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has run since 1991. Nigeria won the 2024 edition, staged in Morocco in July 2025, by beating the hosts 3-2 in the final in Rabat on 26 July 2025. The winners and their title years give the tournament its historical backdrop. Understanding the format makes the table, fixtures and results above easier to follow, while the contributions of Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda give supporters across the continent a connection to the competition. South African readers who search for women's soccer will find the same competition here.

Ask anyone in a Lagos viewing centre what WAFCON means and the answer usually comes back in one word, Falcons, because for most of its history the trophy has spent its holidays in Nigeria. But the competition has grown well beyond one country's habit of winning. Banyana Banyana broke through in 2022, Morocco have filled stadiums as hosts, and Kenya and Uganda have both found their way to the finals. Those achievements give the tournament stories that travel across borders, whether you follow from a Lagos viewing centre or arrange your evening around kick off in Kampala.

How Do You Read the WAFCON Table, Fixtures and Results?

The data modules above update after every match, and each one answers a different question about the tournament. The Wafcon table shows the group standings during a finals tournament (some South African readers will know it as the log), with three points for a win and one for a draw. Teams level on points are separated by the tiebreakers in the competition regulations, which is why two sides on the same total can sit in a different order from the one you would guess at first glance.

The Wafcon fixtures list every upcoming match with its round, its venue and its kick off time in four African zones at once. The Wafcon results list holds the final scores and scorers, newest first, and it fills in shortly after each final whistle. In my opinion, the results list is the better place to start if you have missed a matchday, because it shows how the group arrived where it is rather than just where it stands.

Reading all three modules connects the schedule to the standings. The fixtures tell you what is coming, the results tell you what has happened, and the table turns those results into the picture that decides who goes through. Once the group stage ends, the table stops changing and the knockout rounds take over, so the fixtures list becomes the bracket you follow from the quarter finals to the final.

Who Are the WAFCON Top Scorers, and Where Do the Records Sit?

The leading scorers for each edition, and the all time scoring records, sit in the Wafcon stats module, which updates as goals go in. It also carries assists, clean sheets and the cards that matter for suspensions. In a short tournament, one player can lift a side through a group on her own, so the stats module is often the quickest way to see who is carrying a team.

The competition's history has its own scoring legends, and most of them wore green and white. Perpetua Nkwocha finished as the tournament's leading scorer more than once in the 2000s, and Asisat Oshoala became the face of a later generation of Super Falcons, with her goal in the 2025 final part of a comeback that Lagos will be retelling for years. Thembi Kgatlana's pace for South Africa at the 2018 tournament in Ghana made her one of the names of that edition.

Club football gives these international performances another dimension. WAFCON squads have long included players from clubs in Spain, England, France, Mexico and the United States alongside those from home leagues in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda. The stats module also offers a way to follow the players connecting African national teams with club football across several continents.

What Time Do WAFCON Matches Kick Off in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and South Africa?

Every WAFCON fixture in the fixtures module shows its kick off in West Africa Time (WAT), East Africa Time (EAT), South Africa Standard Time (SAST) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) together. Nigeria runs on WAT, which is one hour ahead of GMT. Ghana runs on GMT itself, South Africa on SAST at two hours ahead, and Kenya and Uganda share EAT at three hours ahead. None of the five changes its clocks during the year, which keeps the conversion steady.

A WAFCON kick off listed at 19:00 GMT means Accra viewers start at seven; Lagos follows at 20:00 WAT, Johannesburg at 21:00 SAST, and supporters in Nairobi and Kampala tune in at 22:00 EAT. East African viewers therefore need to allow for a later finish when the tournament schedule places games in the evening. Using the four converted times also avoids relying on the host country's clock arrangements.

Check the WAFCON fixtures module before settling your viewing plans. The times there are converted from the official schedule, and they update if CAF moves a match. If you are planning a viewing evening with friends in Nairobi or Durban, the four zones side by side save you working it out on your phone during the anthems.

How Can You Watch the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Africa?

Where to watch WAFCON depends on your country, and the broadcaster details for Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda sit in the country data beside the fixtures rather than in this guide. Rights for women's tournaments can change between editions, so the listing on each fixture is the one to trust. In Lagos, the habit is much the same as for the men's game, with viewing centres and bars switching channels when the Super Falcons are on.

For readers who follow the tournament with a view on outcomes, the Wafcon predictions page sets out our calls, each given as a probability with a reference price, and every result is published, including the calls that do not land. Predictions are for readers aged 18 and over, and the responsible gambling helpline for your country sits beside the module.

How Does WAFCON Work?

WAFCON combines qualification with a continental finals event, whose field increased from eight nations to 12 for the 2022 edition. Under that arrangement, every nation faces three opponents within its four team pool. Finishing first or second secures a knockout berth; two further places reward the strongest third placed finishers across the pools. For supporters following Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya or Uganda, that additional route makes the comparison between pools worth watching.

WAFCON's knockout bracket begins with eight nations, and a level score can require extra time followed by a penalty shootout to settle progression. Victory in a semi final earns a chance to lift the continental trophy, while defeat sends a nation into the bronze medal fixture. Where an edition also determines World Cup qualification, supporters should read the allocation for that edition alongside the knockout bracket.

How Do Qualifying and World Cup Places Work?

Most nations reach the finals through qualifying rounds played home and away over two legs, with the aggregate score deciding who goes through. The host nation qualifies automatically. The number of rounds depends on how many federations enter, so a smaller nation may need to win two ties before it reaches the finals, while others enter at a later round.

WAFCON has also served as Africa's qualifying route for the FIFA Women's World Cup in editions held before a World Cup. The 2022 edition in Morocco is the clearest example, as the four semi finalists, South Africa, Morocco, Zambia and Nigeria, earned places at the 2023 Women's World Cup, while Cameroon and Senegal went into the intercontinental play off. That is why a quarter final in a pre World Cup edition can carry more tension than a final in another year.

For Kenya and Uganda, who have reached the finals less often than Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, qualifying is where the story is written. A single two legged tie can decide whether a generation of players gets to a finals tournament at all. During qualifying, the fixtures module helps supporters follow the first leg and plan for the return.

Who Has Won WAFCON, and Which Records Still Stand?

Nigeria have won WAFCON 12 times across the 15 editions from 1991 to the 2024 edition, Equatorial Guinea twice (2008 and 2012), and South Africa once (2022). The Nigerian titles came in 1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018 and the 2024 edition played in 2025. Some reports count only from 1998, the first edition held as a finals tournament in a host country, and on that count the 2025 title was Nigeria's tenth.

Equatorial Guinea won both of their titles as hosts, in 2008 and 2012, and Nigeria have appeared at every edition of the competition. South Africa's title in 2022 came after five final defeats (1995, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018), and it was won against the hosts, as Banyana Banyana beat Morocco 2-1 in Rabat on 23 July 2022, with Hildah Magaia scoring both goals.

If I had to pick one match that sums up the competition, it would be the 2025 final in Rabat. Morocco led 2-0 at half time in front of their own crowd, and the Super Falcons came back to win 3-2, with Esther Okoronkwo, Asisat Oshoala and Jennifer Echegini scoring after the break. Ask in Surulere and you will hear that night described the way older fans describe the 1996 Olympic gold of the men's team.

Which African Nations Have Shaped WAFCON, Country by Country?

Nigeria are the measure every other nation uses. The Super Falcons won the first championship in 1991, which also sent them to the first FIFA Women's World Cup that year in China, and they have reached the podium at almost every tournament since. Their history gives supporters in Lagos a rich set of names against which to judge each emerging generation, from Nkwocha to Oshoala. The Falcons' record gives Nigerian supporters a continental tradition that the men's team also draws on.

Ghana's Black Queens have been regular finalists, runners up in 1998, 2002 and 2006, and hosts of the 2018 tournament in Accra and Cape Coast. Their rivalry with Nigeria has been the West African derby of the women's game for three decades. Ghana's return for the 2024 edition in Morocco brought a semi final appearance, an achievement that added to the Black Queens' tournament history.

South Africa's Banyana Banyana turned five final defeats into the 2022 title in Rabat, and they have finished among the top four at many editions. They hosted the tournament in 2000, 2004 and 2010, and they have played Nigeria in finals more than once, in 1995, 2000 and 2018. For South African readers, the 2022 win sits beside Bafana Bafana's 1996 AFCON title as one of the country's great football nights.

Kenya's Harambee Starlets made their finals debut at the 2016 tournament in Cameroon, and Uganda's Crested Cranes have played at the finals in 2000 and 2022. Both nations reached the tournament through qualifying ties that tested squads with fewer players in overseas leagues. Paradoxically, the 12 team format introduced in 2022 has given East African sides a clearer route, because a strong qualifying campaign now meets more places at the finals than it once did.

When Is WAFCON Played?

WAFCON has usually been held every two years, but the calendar has moved with the wider football schedule, and the dates of the next tournament sit in the fixtures module as soon as CAF confirms them. Earlier editions were often played late in the year, with the 2016 tournament in Cameroon and the 2018 tournament in Ghana held in November and December.

The more recent editions have moved to the middle of the year. The 2020 edition was cancelled because of the Covid 19 pandemic, the 2022 tournament in Morocco ran in July 2022, and the 2024 edition was played in July 2025, keeping its 2024 name. For viewing plans or time off, use the confirmed dates in the fixtures module, because an edition's name does not always match its calendar year.

Which Nations Have Hosted WAFCON, and Where?

Seven countries have hosted WAFCON finals tournaments, starting with Nigeria in 1998. Nigeria hosted again in 2002 and 2006, South Africa in 2000, 2004 and 2010, Equatorial Guinea in 2008 and 2012, Namibia in 2014, Cameroon in 2016, Ghana in 2018, and Morocco in 2022 and for the 2024 edition. The 1991 and 1995 championships had no single host, as both were decided over two legs.

Morocco's two tournaments have raised the standard for crowds and stadiums, with the finals in Rabat played in front of large home support. It could be argued that the host nation always gains something on the pitch, too, as Equatorial Guinea's titles in 2008 and 2012 both came on home soil. The fixtures module names the venue for each match of the next edition once the schedule is published.

How Did the Women's Africa Cup of Nations Begin?

The competition began in 1991 as the African Women's Championship, a knockout played over two legs with no host nation, and Nigeria beat Cameroon in the final. Its first job was practical, as it decided which African nation would go to the first FIFA Women's World Cup in China later that year. The 1995 championship used the same format, and Nigeria beat South Africa in the final.

The first finals tournament in a host country came in 1998 in Nigeria, with group matches, semi finals and a final, and that shape has carried the competition ever since. Through the 2000s it settled into a rhythm of eight team finals held every two years, with Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea most often in the closing rounds.

For the 2016 edition, the competition took the name Africa Women Cup of Nations, which is where the WAFCON short form comes from, and in 2022 it grew to 12 teams. Older supporters in Accra or Lagos may still use African Women's Championship when recalling the competition's earlier editions. Before the next kick off, open the fixtures module and set the four time zones against your own evening.