The 2026 African U-20 Women's World Cup qualification is the 13th edition of the African U-20 Women's World Cup qualification, the biennial international youth football competition organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to determine which women's under-20 national teams from Africa qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Players born on or after 1 January 2006 are eligible to compete in the tournament.
Four teams qualified from this tournament for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland as the CAF representatives.
Draw
A total of 38 (out of 54) CAF member national teams entered the qualifying rounds. The draw was held on 12 December 2024 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. [1] [2]
- First Round: The 12 lowest-ranked teams, based on previous U-20 Women's World Cup qualifiers performance, will contest in this round. The six winners will advance to join the 26 top-ranked teams exempted from the first round.
- Second Round: The six first-round winners and 26 exempted teams will form 32 teams. These will battle it out for 16 spots in the third round.
- Third Round: The remaining 16 teams will compete in a knockout format to determine the eight teams advancing to the fourth round.
- Fourth Round: The final eight teams will play knockout ties, with the winners earning qualification to the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
Table
Did not enter
Format
Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still tied, the penalty shoot-out (no extra time) would be used to determine the winner.[3]
Schedule
| Round | Leg | Date |
|---|---|---|
| First round | First leg | 9–11 May 2025 |
| Second leg | 16–18 May 2025 | |
| Second round | First leg | 19–21 September 2025 |
| Second leg | 26–28 September 2025 | |
| Third round | First leg | 6–8 February 2026 |
| Second leg | 12–14 February 2026 | |
| Fourth round | First leg | 1–3 May 2026 |
| Second leg | 8–10 May 2026 |
First round
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gabon  |  Niger | |||
Togo  |  Tunisia | |||
Gambia  |  Ivory Coast | |||
Rwanda  |  Zimbabwe | |||
South Sudan  |  Djibouti | |||
Malawi  |  Central African Republic |
Qualified teams for FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
The following four teams from CAF qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup1 |
|---|---|---|
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
Goalscorers
See also
- 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations
- 2025 African U-17 Women's World Cup qualification
- 2026 African U-17 Women's World Cup qualification
References
- ^ "CAF to host Draw for African Qualifiers for FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Cairo on Thursday". Cafonline.com. 11 December 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "CAF maps out road to Poland 2026: U-20 Women's World Cup African Qualifiers Draw completed". Cafonline.com. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Regulations of the Women Africa Cup of Nations" (PDF). CAF.