2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations qualification


The 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations qualification was a women's football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations.
A total of eight teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Cameroon who qualified automatically as hosts.

Teams

A total of 23 CAF member national teams entered the qualifying rounds.
RoundTeams entering roundNo. of teams
First round
  • 1
18
Second round
5
Qualifying roundsTotal23
Final tournament
1
Did not enter

  • 1

1 Initially Togo entered the qualification but withdrew and were replaced by Ethiopia. Togo were sanctioned by the CAF and excluded from participating in the 2018 tournament.

Format

Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.
The seven winners of the second round qualified for the final tournament.

Schedule

The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows.
RoundLegDate
First roundFirst leg4–6 March 2016
First roundSecond leg18–20 March 2016
Second roundFirst leg6–9 April 2016
Second roundSecond leg10–12 April 2016

The second round was initially scheduled to be played on 8–10 April and 22–24 April, but was later changed to be played during the FIFA International Match Calendar dates of 4–12 April.

First round

Second round

Winners qualified for 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations.

Qualified teams

The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament.
TeamQualified onPrevious appearances in tournament1

Goalscorers

;5 goals
;3 goals
;2 goals
;1 goal
;Own goal
* includes a goal scored at Egypt vs. Libya match, which has no goal scorers references.