Five WAFCON 2026 records face elimination as CAF’s 16-team Morocco tournament targets milestones in appearances, titles, and goals from Sunday.
The Confederation of African Football disclosed in a formal release that five longstanding records could fall at the 2026 TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, as the 14th edition of the tournament opens in Morocco with 16 competing nations.
CAF published the release under the title “TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations records that could be broken,” listing milestones in player appearances, individual titles, fastest goals, single-edition scoring, and overall tournament goals.
Cameroon captain Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene stands at the center of the first record. When the Indomitable Lionesses face Mali at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium on Wednesday, July 29, Onguene will have the opportunity to earn her eighth appearance at a WAFCON final.
CAF stated that if Onguene takes to the pitch against Mali, she will surpass Nigeria’s Onome Ebi, who has featured in seven editions, making the Cameroonian the first player in the competition’s history to appear in eight tournaments.
Nigeria’s Francisca Ordega and Osinachi Ohale enter the 2026 edition already holding the record for the most WAFCON titles won by any individual player. Both players have lifted the trophy five times each with the Super Falcons.
CAF described the pair as “perennial winners and overall leaders,” adding that their longevity had made them an inspiration to footballers across the continent. A sixth title for either player would extend a record they already hold outright.
Tunisia’s Mariem Houij holds the third record under threat. Houij scored against Togo just 17 seconds into their match at the 2022 edition, a mark CAF described as “a lightning-fast sprint followed by a clean strike.”
That goal remains the fastest in WAFCON history. With 413 players expected to feature across the 2026 tournament, CAF stated that players would be targeting an even earlier strike to claim the record from Houij.
Nigeria legend Perpetua Nkwocha holds the fourth record at risk: the most goals scored by a single player in one WAFCON edition. Nkwocha scored 11 goals at the 2010 tournament, a tally that included hat-tricks against Mali in the group stage and Cameroon in the semi-final.
CAF called the feat “an all-time high mark that remains the ultimate standard for goal-scoring efficiency on the continent, 16 years later.” No player has matched or exceeded 11 goals in a single edition across the tournaments played since 2010.
The fifth and final record involves the total number of goals scored across one tournament. That record currently stands at 66, set during the 2024 edition held in Morocco.
CAF stated that the 2024 tournament “reached unprecedented heights of attacking efficiency” with those 66 goals scored across the competition. The mark now faces direct pressure from the expanded structure of the 2026 edition.
The increase from 12 to 16 participating nations means more group-stage matches and more knockout fixtures will be played in 2026 than in any previous edition, creating additional opportunity for goals to accumulate beyond the existing record.
According to CAF, the increase in the number of participating nations and matches “provides the perfect opportunity to see this glass ceiling shattered and a new goalscoring record established.” The body made those comments directly in its pre-tournament release.
The 2026 WAFCON runs from Sunday, July 26, to August 16. CAF organized the tournament across five venues in Morocco, with matches being staged in Rabat and Casablanca.
All five records identified by CAF span different categories of individual and team performance, and the governing body confirmed that the expanded format of the 2026 edition gives each of the five benchmarks a genuine chance of being surpassed before the final on August 16.
