CAF confirms Draw procedures for 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games Women's Football Tournament Africa qualifiers
The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) has confirmed the procedures for the draw for the African qualifiers for the Women's Football Tournament at the Los Angeles Olympic Games which will take place from 11 to 29 July 2028.
The draw for this knockout phase will take place on 28 April 2026 in Cairo, Egypt, and will be broadcast live on CAF TV from 15h00 local time (12h00 GMT).
The 35 teams taking part are: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
COMPETITION FORMAT
The qualifiers will be structured in five knockout rounds, played in home and away matches as follows:
Round 1: The six lowest-ranked teams according to the latest official FIFA Women’s World Rankings (Sudan, Mauritius, Djibouti, South Sudan, Madagascar and Comoros) will enter the competition in the first round and play each other, while 29 teams will be exempt from this stage.
Round 2: The three winners of the first round will face the three highest-ranked teams, Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana, and join the 29 teams with byes. At the end of this phase, 16 teams will qualify for the next round.
Round 3: The remaining 16 teams compete over two legs, with 8 teams qualified to the next stage.
Round 4: The 8 qualified teams compete, and 4 teams advance to the next round.
Round 5: The final 4 teams compete to determine the 2 African nations that will qualify for the Olympic Games.
PROCEDURE OF THE DRAW
Round 1The six non-exempt teams will be placed in a single pot. The first team drawn will play the second, the third will face the fourth, and the fifth will play the sixth. The second-drawn team will play the second leg at home.
Round 2:The teams will be divided into four pots, according to their FIFA ranking and geographical area (UNAF, UNIFFAC, UFOA, CECAFA and COSAFA). The teams in Pot 1 will play those in Pot 2, and the teams in Pot 3 will play those in Pot 4. The highest ranked teams will play the second leg at home.
From Round 3 onwards The draw becomes entirely based on a predefined table:
The winners of the matches of Round 2 will face each other according to an established order (e.g. winner match 7/8 against winner match 9/10, etc.).
This principle will be maintained until Round 5, without a new draw.
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Round 1: 1-9 June 2026Round 2: 5-13 October 2026Round 3: 23 February-6 March 2027Round 4: 4-12 October 2027Round 5: 23 November-4 December 2027
For further information: communications@cafonline.com
CAF | Communication Division