Morocco will once again host the Women's Africa Cup of Nations football tournament
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has re-appointed Morocco as the organiser of the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations football tournament after hosting the 2022 edition.
This year's edition of the CAN was a great success in terms of sporting, organisational and stadium attendance, especially to watch the home team, and CAF has once again turned its attention to the Alawi kingdom to host the next continental women's football competition.
The CAF Executive Committee made the decision for Morocco to host the women's CAN again during an executive meeting on Tuesday in Tanzania and the news has been welcomed in the North African country, which will once again experience the excitement of organising a sporting competition of this dimension, a challenge it will take on for the second time in a row.
CAN 2022 was a complete success for Morocco. The Moroccan national team reached the final for the first time in its history, losing 1-2 to South Africa. This was a major milestone for the Atlas Lionesses, who with their previous qualification for the semi-finals had achieved another unprecedented achievement which was to qualify for the next Women's World Cup, to be played in Australia and New Zealand from 20 July to 20 August 2023.
La CAF a tenu une réunion de son Comité exécutif, ce mardi 9 août, à la veille la 44e AG de l’instance en Tanzanie ??.
Le Comité exécutif, présidée par Patrice Motsepe, a décidé d’octroyer au Maroc ??, l’organisation de la CAN féminine 2024 pour la deuxième fois consécutive. pic.twitter.com/lmvyT5uCzg— Lassana Camara (@mauritaniefoot) August 9, 2022
This year's edition of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations was therefore a great sporting achievement for the national team, thanks to the final played, which was reached after having eliminated Nigeria, the great favourites, in the semi-finals, who had won the competition eleven times out of the thirteen editions played since the first one in 1991.
Another highlight for Morocco at CAN 2022 was the nomination of their player Ghizlane Chebbak as the best player of the tournament after scoring three goals and providing one assist during the competition.
The King of Morocco himself, Mohammed VI, called the members of the women's national football team in person to congratulate the players and coaching staff on reaching the final. The monarch spoke with the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, with coach Reynald Pedros and dedicated emotional words to Ghizlane Chebbak to thank all the players for the great role they played in the tournament.
Along with the sporting success, it should be noted that the CAN 2022 hosted by Morocco meant a great positive news in terms of public attendance in the stadiums, which has meant a great boost for football and women's sport in general in Africa and Morocco.
The matches played by the Atlas Lionesses in Rabat were watched at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium by tens of thousands of spectators who were thrilled, as in other matches, by the game and the competition, which took place entirely in the Rabat capital and Casablanca from 2 to 23 July 2022. In fact, the match between Morocco and Nigeria was attended by 45,000 spectators at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium, which is an even higher number for a top-level match in men's football.
It is worth noting that CAF President Patrice Motsepe described the last CAN organised by Morocco as "the best women's CAN in history", thanks to its sporting and public success. Now, the Alawi kingdom will once again have the opportunity to host the CAN in 2024 with the aim of once again offering a great tournament in every sense of the word.
