Copper Queens coach Nora Häuptle has re-emphasised the need for the national team to hold a training camp in Dubai next month as part of preparations for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), revealing that she is still waiting for the budget to be approved.
Häuptle has also confirmed that she will not take part in the 2026 COSAFA Women’s Championship, with all senior players also set to miss the tournament, which will run from February 18 to March 1.
She explained that the decision was taken to allow the team to focus fully on WAFCON preparations, including playing international friendly matches next month against top-30 ranked teams.
“My responsibility is the international camp and the WAFCON. To qualify for the World Cup, you always need to stay focused on the target you need to deliver. The COSAFA is a senior tournament, but it’s colliding with the international FIFA window in February. It starts a week earlier and crosses one week of the international window. So we are not able to send our international teams to COSAFA,” Häuptle told reporters on Thursday at the Fallsway arena in Lusaa.
“So we will, from the big group of players we have here; we have around 40 players. We have more than 10 internationals. We will split; we take the WAFCON squad in the international window, and the other part of the squad we send to COSAFA. And then we are in discussion now on how to solve it,” she added.
Dubai Camp Not Approved Yet – Häuptle
Häuptle further disclosed that she is still awaiting approval of the budget for the proposed Dubai camp and expressed hope that it will be sanctioned.
“We outlined three steps to WAFCON. First, it’s the local pre-camp where we need to do a proper selection. In the second step, it’s the international window in February, where we need to have high-performance games to prepare us tactically and physically for the WAFCON,” she said.
“I outlined the tournament in Dubai because it’s a good mixture there. We have the top 35 teams. We have two African teams we can influence against whom we play to arrange a bit the setting that we will face at WAFCON in the group stage.
“So far it’s [budget] not approved. So we wait for the approval of the finances, and I really, there I demand really these games. We need it to be prepared, and we cannot compromise about it,” concluded Häuptle.
The 2026 WAFCON will be played from March 17 to April 3, 2026, in Morocco, with the Copper Queens drawn in Group C alongside Nigeria, Malawi, and Egypt.
The tournament will also serve as a qualifier for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, with the semi-finalists earning automatic qualification for the global showpiece.
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