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Is Morocco's plethora of tournament hosting duties helping its investment or stalling others'?
The 2025 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) final between Nigeria and Morocco in Rabat on Saturday was a clash between a nine-time winner, whose federation has been more of an opponent than a supporter, and a two-time finalist, who has essentially found a 12th player in its federation.
Nigeria Super Falcons claimed their tenth title, known as Mission X, in thrilling style, fingernailing their way back from a 2-0 deficit in the second half with goals from Esther Okoronkwo, Florence Ijamilusi and Jennifer Echegini. It also meant that Morocco's Atlas Lionesses suffered back-to-back WAFCON losses as hosts, a first in the history of the continental tournament.
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Morocco is coached by former Spanish manager Jorge Vilda, who was fired from the Spain job after their 2023 World Cup win amid the investigation into former Spanish federation president Luis Rubiales and the non-consensual kiss he gave to forward Jennifer Hermoso during the award ceremony. Despite that history, Vilda's hiring was seen as part of Morocco's significant investment at the club and national team levels. The nation is also hosting the men's African Cup of Nations in December and January, a third consecutive WAFCON in 2026 and the 2030 men's World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal.
No African federation is investing in its women's team more than Morocco, and it could be proof of why Morocco should continue to host these tournaments. However, there is also an argument to be made for hosting duties to go to the countries that need a boost in exposure, similar to how Tatjana Haenni, a former Switzerland national team player, led the Swiss bid to host the 2025 women's Euros.
But as Morocco nurses its wounds from a second straight WAFCON home loss in a final while also preparing to host its third in a row next year, there will, and should, be questions about which philosophy sits at the head of the table for women's football in Africa.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF), for its part, has made investment strides of its own this WAFCON, doubling the prize money for the winning team to $1 million and increasing the remaining pot prize by 45 percent; Morocco will receive $500,000 as finalists, Ghana $350,000 for coming in third place.
🤩🤩🤩 Congratulations to @NGSuper_Falcons. The Champions of TotalEnergies CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2024. 🙌
They staged an extraordinary second-half comeback to defeat hosts Morocco 3-2 to lift their 10th WAFCON title at the Stade Olympique in Rabat on Saturday…
— CAF Media (@CAF_Media) July 26, 2025
'We are very proud of the investments we've made over the last few years,' CAF president Patrice Motsepe said ahead of the final. 'They are being entrenched and the future of African women's football is enormously bright, and we will continue to make more financial resources available for the competitions.'
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Motsepe added his wish that 'a significant amount of that money go into the pockets of the women players and the technical team, and also to make sure that in every country in Africa, the partnerships with government, the partnerships with the private sector are very important because our focus is to make women's football world class.'
Morocco has done their part to back teams financially. In 2019, Moroccan King Mohammed VI established an eponymous football facility in Rabat, the new $65 million home to the entire national team, juniors and seniors, women and men. The following year, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation professionalized the preexisting National Women's League, now D1 Féminin, beginning with the 2021 season. At the time, Morocco had only competed in two WAFCON tournaments in 1998 and 2000; between the two campaigns, it won one game and lost five, scoring five goals and conceding 22. In this way, Morocco has undeniably improved despite the consecutive final losses.
Half of the players named to Morocco's 24-player roster compete domestically. Moroccan striker and WAFCON Golden Boot winner Ghizlane Chebbak has won 10 titles with Moroccan club giant ASFAR, as well as a 2022 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League.
But the Moroccan federation's investments and ambitions have not been exclusively focused on the women's side; it's been bullish on the men's, too. And why wouldn't it be after the men's national team made history as the first African team to reach a World Cup semifinal?
Sandwiched between the 2024 and 2026 WAFCONs will be the men's version of the tournament held between December and January, and the preparations for that affected this WAFCON. Due to the renovations of larger stadiums in Rabat and Casablanca, used during the 2022 WAFCON, this year's matches were held at smaller venues in those cities, in addition to Mohammedia (situated between Rabat and Casablanca along the coast), and Berkane and Oujda in the far east of the country near the border with Algeria.
Attendance at those remote games was visibly poor, although the federation did provide discounted transportation and free tickets to Moroccan nationals for some of the host's matches. All of the Atlas Lionesses' matches took place in Rabat and were bursting with home crowd energy.
Morocco's opponent, Nigeria, is, by other metrics, in a prime position to embody Africa's best as a football nation and therefore be primed to host. However, despite their ten wins, they continue to battle their federation for pay, a long-term coach and productive international windows. The federation did not schedule any friendlies for the Super Falcons between November and June, a month before WAFCON kicked off.
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Where Nigeria and other West, East and Southern African federations serving as WAFCON hosts could edge Morocco is in attendance. Each of those regions belongs to a bloc — the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) — that encourages nationals to travel to other member states with either relaxed or visa-free entry. For reference, the tourist visa fee for a Nigerian citizen to travel to Morocco is $159.
Either way, Morocco will host again next year. And the schedule realignment after the COVID-19 delay means that the next tournament will only be a year away, narrowing the window between this historic occasion and the next to allow for momentum to build.
With the men's AFCON over by then, the larger stadiums WAFCON enjoyed in 2022 will once again be available. But the pressure on the three-time hosts and two-time finalists will be greater than ever to take home a continental title. Otherwise, Morocco risks establishing itself as a team unable to return on its investment when it matters most.
