CAF confirms November 1-15 dates for 2026 Women’s Champions League

The 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League will be staged from November 1 to 15, 2026, with the Confederation of African Football confirming the dates for the continent’s premier women’s club competition.

The two-week tournament will bring together eight of Africa’s top women’s clubs, who will compete for the continental title across a 15-day period.

The confirmation of the November 1-15 window provides clarity on when the competition will begin and end, with the participating clubs expected to turn their attention to preparations for the final tournament.

Defending champions AS FAR of Morocco will return to defend their title after securing their place in the competition.

They will be joined by several clubs that have emerged from the zonal qualification process, with the eight-team field set to represent different regions across the continent.

Eight clubs set for continental battle

Among the clubs that have secured qualification are Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, representing the COSAFA zone, USFAS Bamako of Mali, Kawempe Muslim Ladies of Uganda, Lekié FF of Cameroon and FUS Rabat of Morocco.

AS FAR’s presence adds further experience to the field, having established themselves as a leading force in African women’s club football.

The remaining qualification places will complete the eight-team line-up for the final tournament.

CAF orders controversial final to resume

The original final produced a dramatic finish, with Ampem Darkoa twice taking the lead before Edo Queens forced the match to penalties. Berline Nyarko scored twice for the Ghanaian champions, while Dooshima Tarnum and Rose Umejiaku were on target for the Nigerian side.

Edo Queens prevailed in the shootout and were initially confirmed as WAFU B champions and the zone’s representatives at the CAF Women’s Champions League.

That outcome has since been thrown into uncertainty following CAF’s decision over the procedural error.

Rather than ordering a replay, CAF ruled that the match should resume from extra time with the score still level at 2-2. The decision effectively put the regional qualification spot back into contention and created an unusual situation in which the continental tournament’s schedule is settled while one of its participants remains uncertain.

The controversy stems from the failure to play the mandatory 30 minutes of extra time before the penalty shootout. CAF’s regulations provide for two 15-minute periods of extra time when a decisive result is required after regulation time in the relevant knockout context.