WAFCON 2026 prize money breakdown: What Banyana Banyana can earn in Morocco

Banyana Banyana will open their 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign on Monday night when they face Tanzania and there is a huge financial incentive at the tournament.

South Africa will play all their group stage matches in Casablanca and as they look to win their second title, things have sweetened after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) increased the winners’ prize by 100%.

Banyana Banyana have never finished below fourth in each of their last nine appearances at WAFCON and head into the 2026 editions as one of the favourites.

South Africa, who won their first and only title in 2022, finished fourth in 2024 and need no motivation this time as they look to right the wrongs of the last tournament.

Big WAFCON reward for all 16 teams

At the 2026 edition, CAF has set aside a total prize pool of $5.8 million (R97.6 million), a 67% increase from the $3.475 million (R58.5 million) that was paid out at WAFCON 2024, while the winners are set for a significant reward.

Already, all the 16 participating teams are assured $150,000 (R25 million), which is an increase from the $125,000 (R2.1 million) that the teams which qualified for the 2024 edition were awarded.

💰 The Motsepe Effect on women's football is real. WAFCON winners' prize money, by edition:

• Pre-2022 → $200,000⁰• 2022 → $500,000⁰• 2024 → $1,000,000⁰• 2026 → $2,000,000 🆕

That's a 900% increase in five years.
Expanded to 16 teams. Record pot. Africa's women… pic.twitter.com/eLzlu99ivT

— Jon Boafo (@JonBoafo) July 22, 2026

However, reaching the semi-final and beyond is where proper money is and South Africa will feel confident that they will get here given their recent run.

CAF has set aside $550,000 (R9.2 million) for the team that will finish third at WAFCON 2026 while the runners-up will take home $750,000 (R12.6 million), which is a 50% increase from the previous edition.

What Banyana can earn if they win title   

If Banyana Banyana repeat their 2022 heroics and win the continental title, they will take home a cool $2 million (R33.6 million) which is the new prize money for the WAFCON champions, an 100% increase from the $1 million (R16 million) that Nigeria received for winning the 2024 title.

“Since the current CAF leadership assumed office, the prize money of the winner has increased by 900 per cent from $200,000 to $2m and the total prize money has increased by 495 per cent from $975,000 to $5.8m,” CAF said in a statement released on its website on Wednesday.

With this huge financial reward on offer, Banyana Banyana have extra motivation to go for the WAFCON title during the July 26-August 16 tournament in Morocco.