Banyana Banyana will know their group stage opponents at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations when the draw is held for the new expanded 16-team competition on January 15.

The finals, which will also serve as the qualifiers for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, will be held in in Morocco again from March 17 to April 3.

Banyana have qualified for the last two Women’s World Cups in 2019 and 2023, reaching the Round of 16 in the previous edition.

They will be among the top seeds at the WAFCON after finishing a rather disappointing fourth in Morocco last year, beaten on penalties by Ghana in the bronze medal match. They had lost to eventual champions Nigeria in the semi-finals.

The draw procedures have not yet been revealed by CAF, but the 2022 champions South Africa should be in the top four bracket.

Morocco will headline Group A as hosts, with Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa expected to be the other seeds.

The other 12 qualified teams are Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia.