Why WAFCON 2026 exposed a much bigger problem in African women’s football

With WAFCON now over, it's clear how little thought, due diligence and care went into the tournament. That applies not just to CAF but also to the Moroccan football federation, which deserves some accountability. Once again, it highlights why the conversation around women's football and its growth can do the game a disservice.

There was a lack of clear information on where to watch the games, sparse crowds at many matches, poor commentary, and few community events or watch parties. We cannot continue this disingenuous conversation.

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WAFCON exposes a wider problem

We can see from WAFCON that women's football in Africa remains severely underfunded and under-prioritised. This needs to be addressed from both cultural and financial angles. We cannot assume the women's game faces the same challenges everywhere.

Countries like the US, the UK and Spain have the financial backing and cultural relevance to keep growing the sport, along with the success to back it. Many countries, including Jamaica and the Philippines, have had to rely on GoFundMe campaigns and wealthy individuals just to get their teams to competitions. This is part of the conversation.

Some of the NWSL's best players are African, and they are doing an amazing job of playing football while, in the current climate, also having to be ambassadors for African football.

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In the WSL, one of the division's best players is Black but has been undervalued in terms of rating and value, while also having to use their voice to gather support and shame the Jamaican FA into pretending to care about the women's team.

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Women's football growth is not evenly distributed

People love to bring up the fact that viewership and attendance in women's football have increased, but don't always talk about the full picture. WSL attendance, for example, has not followed a simple upward trajectory. While some clubs continued to grow their crowds in 2025/26, Deloitte's club-by-club figures show that progress remains uneven across the league.

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Not being honest about statistics like these means there can't be more opportunities to brainstorm growth ideas, push organisations to do better and do more, and find out why attendance is decreasing in certain areas or why people are becoming disinterested. It also prevents us from accurately reporting the growth of the game across countries, race and levels of financial backing.

We cannot continue the narrative that women's football is growing, that money is coming in and that participation is increasing without acknowledging that it is only partially true. Too often, that narrative comes from a Western viewpoint.

Who gets to define progress in the women's game?

On top of that, the way some women-led organisations talked about WAFCON highlighted another growing issue in women's football. White organisations largely do not know how to talk about Black and brown women without it sounding white saviour-ish. There was the fake outrage, the banners at unrelated games, and the Instagram stories rather than the sustained support that should have been happening.

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Where were the federations of England, Spain and the US calling out the lack of funding and support for African players and tournaments? Where were the boycotts and protests towards FIFA and its lack of effort to grow the game? And where were the think pieces and grassroots activism that we saw when the US women's team fought for better pay, or when Spanish players pushed for change at their federation? That same level of effort needs to come into play for the sake of the game.

The fact that content around WAFCON from women-focused accounts often came only after those organisations had previously been called out, shows that the culture has not necessarily changed. You still hear people from large organisations at events referring to women's football in Africa, Asia and South America as 'unknown leagues' filled with 'unknown players'.

That ignores the massive amount of free labour required to keep these leagues going and provide content around the games and players. It also ignores the effort players themselves have to make, knowing that, even when they do not ask for the responsibility, they become spokespeople for their country, continent and race in how others perceive them.

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WAFCON is not a one-off

What we saw with WAFCON is not a one-off, but a systemic failure that has been allowed to persist and will continue unless something changes.

The Women's World Cup will further highlight the systemic issues facing African football, exposing the disparities that emerge when wilful negligence is allowed to fester. The games at WAFCON were amazing to watch, but they were not always treated as the main story. That shows African women's football will continue to fight not only systemic neglect but also poor branding by others.

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