The tournament serves as a preliminary for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, where four African sides will gain automatic qualification, and two more go into the inter-continental qualifiers.
The WAFCON was originally scheduled to be played from March 17-April 3, but hosts Morocco pushed for a change in dates due to what CAF describes as "unforeseen circumstances".
"After discussions between CAF and its partners, FIFA and other stakeholders, CAF decided to reschedule the dates of the TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON 2026, to 25 July – 16 August 2026 to ensure the success of this important women’s competition, in the light of certain unforeseen circumstances," CAF said in a statement on Thursday.
"Preparations for the TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON 2026 are underway and all the parties are confident that it will be very successful."
The number of teams competing at the finals have been expanded to 16 for the first time, with Nigeria the defending champions after they lifted the trophy at the 2024 edition, which was played last year having also been postponed.
South Africa said last month they were ready to step in and act as hosts on the original dates, but should Morocco have withdrawn from staging the finals, they would be disqualified in accordance with CAF regulations.
The same happened to Ivory Coast when they withdrew from hosting the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations last year and Egypt stepped in at the last minute.
With the four semi-finalists booking automatic berths at the 2027 World Cup, Morocco, which has invested heavily in its women’s football programmes, would miss out on the global finals if disqualified.
A record 16 countries will take part in the finals, including defending champions Nigeria, 2022 champions South Africa, last year's bronze medallists Ghana and debutants Kenya.