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
The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...
(CAF). It was first contested in
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
, but was not held biennially until
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
.
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
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
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
; Equatorial Guinea won the two competitions in which it were the host.
The competition has served as a qualifying tournament for the
FIFA Women's World Cup
The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...
every other tournament since its inception in 1991.
History
In 2000, hosts
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
met three-time champions
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
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
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
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
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
.
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.
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
The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...
(CAF). It was set up from
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
, 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
Note: ''abd'' – match abandoned in the 73rd minute
Statistics
Teams reaching the top four
:
* hosts
:
** losing semi-finals
Summary (1991–2022)
Top scorers (Golden boot) by year
Best player (Golden ball) by year
Hat-tricks
Participating nations
;Legend
* – Champions
* – Runners-up
* – Third place
* – Fourth place
* – Semi-finals
*QF – Quarter-finals
*GS – Group stage
*''q'' – Qualified
* – Did not qualify
* – Did not enter
* – Withdrew before qualification
* — Withdrew/Disqualified after qualification
* – Hosts
Most tournaments hosted
See also
*
CAF Women's Champions League
The CAF Women's Champions League (french: Ligue des Champions Féminine de la CAF; ar, دوري أبطال إفريقيا للسيدات), sometimes abbreviated as ''CAF WCL'', is an annual international women's association football club compet ...
*
African U-20 Women's World Cup qualification
The African U-20 Women's World Cup qualification is an association football tournament for the under 20 teams, that is held every two years, and serves as a qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
In the first two editions in 2 ...
*
African U-17 Cup of Nations for Women
The African U-17 Cup of Nations for Women is association football tournament for the under 17 teams, that is held every two years, and serves as a qualifying competition for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.
The next edition is planned for 2022.
...
*
FIFA Women's World Cup
The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...
*
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament for female players under the age of 17. It is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA). The tournament is held in even-numbered y ...
*
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...
References
External links
*
Africa – Women's Championshipat the
RSSSF
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...
{{African Championships
Women's Cup of Nations
Confederation of African Football competitions for women's national teams
Recurring sporting events established in 1991
Africa Cup of Nations, Women