Algeria, Senegal Clash in Historic Group A Opener
Algeria and Senegal kick off their CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) Morocco 2026 campaigns today with a historic Group A clash at the Rabat Olympic Stadium. This opening match marks the first-ever WAFCON meeting between the two nations, setting the stage for an intriguing North versus West Africa battle.
Algeria enters the tournament making their seventh finals appearance and celebrating consecutive qualifications for just the second time in their history. After failing to progress past the group stage in their first five attempts, the North Africans finally broke their tournament curse at the 2024 edition by reaching the knockout rounds for the very first time. Historically, Algeria has struggled against West African teams, holding a record of two wins, one draw, and five defeats in eight previous meetings. Notably, they have faced West African sides in four of their past opening matches, famously defeating Ghana 1-0 in 2014, but suffering losses to Ghana in 2010 and 2018, alongside a heavy 4-0 defeat to Nigeria in 2004. Their only other success against the region was a 3-0 victory over Mali during the 2004 group stage.
Senegal arrives in Morocco making their fourth overall appearance and their third in a row, looking to maintain an impressive streak of reaching the knockout stage in their last two tournaments. This is a massive leap forward from their 2012 debut, where they lost all three matches. Senegal’s fortunes turned in 2022 when they secured their first-ever tournament win and clean sheet with a 2-0 victory over Uganda. However, the Lionesses of Teranga face a psychological hurdle today: they have never scored a goal against North African opposition. In three previous attempts against the region, Senegal suffered 1-0 group-stage defeats to Morocco in both 2022 and 2024, and fought to a 0-0 draw against Tunisia in a 2022 World Cup repechage match, which they eventually won on penalties.
With Algeria eager to build on their recent knockout-stage breakthrough and Senegal desperate to break their North African scoring duck, this Group A opener promises to be a fiercely contested encounter.