Morocco raises women's Cannes preparations

The African women's teams have increased their preparations for the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco, taking advantage of the current international break in April, to play a series of strong friendly matches and participate in the trial series of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), with the aim of assessing technical and tactical readiness before the start of the continental tournament in a few months.

The international trials began on Friday, when the Botswana national team tied with its host, the Saudi national team, with a goal to match, in a match that saw Laoni Moloi advance for Botswana, before Saba Tawfiq equalized for Saudi Arabia in stoppage time.

The next day, the Côte d'Ivoire national team defeated its Mauritanian counterpart with a heavy score (8-0), in the “FIFA Series”, confirming its striking attacking strength.

The city of Nairobi also witnessed mini-matches, where Australia beat Malawi (5-0), and Kenya beat India with two clean goals, while the Zambian national team played a difficult test against Canada and lost (0-4), while the Tunisia national team met its counterpart, the Benin national team.

The excitement continues today, Monday, as the confrontation between Morocco and Tanzania stands out as one of the most prominent matches of this pause, given the great development witnessed by the Moroccan national team.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, will also witness strong confrontations, most notably South Africa’s meeting with Algeria, and the Egyptian national team’s confrontation with its Saudi counterpart, in addition to a meeting between Benin and the Comoros.

This stage of preparations continues until April 19, when confrontations are renewed between some teams, including a second meeting between South Africa and Algeria, an upcoming summit between Morocco and Ghana, and a second confrontation between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

These intense matches, whether within the continent or against global opponents such as Brazil and South Korea, who will face Zambia later, aim to give coaches the opportunity to experience the depth of the squad and refine strategies, in order to achieve optimal readiness before the start of the continental tournament, according to the official website of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).