Published:
The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) has confirmed the draw procedures for the African qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026, with 31 teams set to compete for four qualification places at the global finals.
The draw for the qualifiers will take place in Rabat, Morocco on Saturday, 10 January 2026 from 13h00 local time (12h00 GMT / 14h00 Cairo) and will be live on CAF TV.
The qualification competition will be played over three home-and-away knockout rounds. The four teams emerging victorious from the final qualifying round will represent Africa at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026.
Ranking of teams
A total of 31 CAF Member Associations will take part in the qualifiers. As the top-ranked side, Nigeria are exempt from the First Round.
The other 30 teams have been ranked based on their performances in the last five editions of the qualifiers. They have been placed in the following pots, with geographic considerations taken into account:
Pot 1 (Highest ranked in WAFU A, WAFU B & UNIFFAC): Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal
Pot 2 (Lowest ranked in WAFU A, WAFU B & UNIFFAC): Algeria, Burkina Faso, Libya, Niger, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tunisia
Pot 3 (Highest ranked in COSAFA, CECAFA & UNIFFAC): Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
Pot 4 (Lowest ranked in COSAFA, CECAFA & UNIFFAC): Botswana, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zimbabwe
Qualifying format
The qualification process begins with a First Round involving 30 teams, who will compete in 15 home-and-away ties. The winners of these ties progress to the Second Round, where they are joined by Nigeria.
From the Second Round, eight teams will advance to the Third and final qualifying round. The four winners of the Third Round ties will secure Africa’s qualification places for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026.
First Round draw procedure
For the First Round draw, CAF has structured the process to take geographical considerations into account as far as possible. Teams are distributed into four draw pots based on zonal representation, with pairings arranged between teams drawn from specific pots.
The first team drawn from Pot 2 will play against the first team drawn from Pot 1. The second leg will be played on the territory of the second team drawn. This process is repeated seven times.
The first team drawn from Pot 4 will play against the first team drawn from Pot 3. The second leg will be played on the territory of the second team drawn. This process is repeated eight times.
Second Round pairings
The Second Round fixtures are pre-determined based on the competition bracket. The winners of the first two First Round matches will face the team entering at this stage, while the remaining First Round winners are paired against each other according to the established draw sequence.
All Second Round ties will be played over two legs, with the eight winners advancing to the Third Round.
Third Round and qualification
The Third Round will feature eight teams competing in four home-and-away ties. The winners of these final fixtures will qualify directly for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026, completing the African qualification process for the tournament.
For more on the African qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026, visit www.cafonline.com.
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CAF | Communication Department
