The Confederation of African Football (CAF) took the decision to expand the finals from 12 to 16 teams midway through preliminaries for next year’s tournament in Morocco.

Reigning champions Nigeria were among 11 sides to book their tickets in the second and final qualifying round last month, and those eliminated at that stage had hoped to have another chance to reach North Africa via potential play-offs.

However, CAF has instead used FIFA’s world rankings to fill the remaining places with the four best-ranked sides who lost in the second qualifying round advancing.

As a result, Cameroon (66th in the world), Cote d’Ivoire (71st), Mali (79th) and Egypt (95th) will feature at WAFCON 2026.

Mali were beaten quarter-finalists at the delayed 2024 edition, while three-time runners-up Cameroon have not featured since 2022.

Cote d’Ivoire and Egypt will return for the first time since 2014 and 2016 respectively.

CAF has also not confirmed the dates of the tournament, but world governing body FIFA has previously earmarked it to take place between March 17 and April 3.

A date for the draw is also yet to be announced by CAF.

The four semi-finalists at next year’s finals will qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with the losing quarter-finalists playing off for two spots at an inter-confederation qualifier.