The 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) wrapped up earlier this month with a historic final that saw Cameroon claim its first ever title against a resilient Malawi side, and delivered a clear message to global football: African women’s football is brimming with world-class talent. From Malawi’s Temwa Chawinga, who scored five goals and notched two assists in the tournament, to Cameroon’s tournament MVP Monique Ngock, the level of play on display left fans and analysts impressed. Yet one glaring question lingers over the Women’s Super League (WSL) — widely considered one of the most competitive elite women’s leagues on the planet: why are there so few African-born and African-based players plying their trade in England’s top flight?
This summer has seen a continued influx of global talent flocking to the WSL. Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, a core member of Spain’s 2023 World Cup-winning squad, became the latest high-profile international star to make the move, signing with London City Lionesses. She joins a growing list of global standouts who have chosen the WSL as their home: Australia’s iconic captain Sam Kerr spent years terrorizing defenses for Chelsea before her move to NWSL side Gotham FC, while top American talents including Alyssa Thompson, Naomi Girma, Emily Fox and Sam Coffey now represent some of England’s biggest clubs. In recent seasons, the league has also welcomed a wave of top Asian talent, with Japan captain Yui Hasegawa emerging as one of the league’s most impactful players at Manchester City.
Against this backdrop of growing global integration, the numbers are striking: only four African international players are currently contracted to WSL clubs. They are Chiamaka Nnadozie (Brighton & Hove Albion, Nigeria), Aisha Masaka (Brighton & Hove Albion, Tanzania), Rofiat Imuran (London City Lionesses, Nigeria) and Ines Belloumou (West Ham United, Algeria). This underrepresentation is not for a lack of elite talent on the continent, nor is it a lack of interest from top European and North American clubs. The U.S. National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has actively pursued African talent in recent years, shelling out record transfer fees to secure the services of the continent’s top players.
In 2024, Zambian forward Racheal Kundananji made history when she joined expansion side Bay FC from Spain’s Madrid CFF for £685,000 — at the time, the highest transfer fee ever paid for a women’s footballer. Her compatriot Barbra Banda, who plays for the Orlando Pride, claimed the 2024 BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year award for her performances. The NWSL’s Washington Spirit currently counts six African internationals among its ranks, including 2026 Wafcon MVP Monique Ngock. Temwa Chawinga, whose five-goal haul turned heads at this year’s Wafcon, has already dominated the NWSL, claiming both the Golden Boot and MVP award in her first two seasons with the Kansas City Current. Her sister, Malawi captain Tabitha Chawinga, plies her trade for European powerhouse Olympique Lyonnais and led her underdog nation to a historic Wafcon final appearance earlier this month. Other top African talents, including Cameroon’s standout keeper Michaely Bihina, have secured contracts at top European clubs outside of England, such as Portugal’s Benfica.
Nnadozie, the only African keeper ever shortlisted for the Women’s Ballon d’Or, has already proven the impact African talent can make in the WSL. Since joining Brighton last year, she earned a starting spot and helped the club reach the FA Cup Final at Wembley, where they faced WSL champions Manchester City. So what is holding WSL clubs back from tapping into this deep pool of untapped talent? Industry analysts and players point to three core barriers: restrictive visa rules, financial and structural competition from the NWSL, and systemic gaps in scouting and tournament coverage.
The first and most significant hurdle is the United Kingdom’s Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) visa criteria, which sets strict eligibility requirements for foreign players looking to join English clubs. To qualify, foreign players must accumulate a minimum number of points across five weighted categories, which factor in senior national team caps, appearances in continental competitions like the UEFA Women’s Champions League, and the global ranking of the player’s previous club. For many African players coming from domestic African leagues, these criteria automatically disqualify them, as their clubs do not hold high enough global rankings and many do not compete in tournaments that count toward the points threshold.
Beyond visa rules, WSL clubs also face stiff competition from NWSL sides, who have been proactive in targeting top African talent and are able to offer more competitive transfer fees and wages than many English clubs. Additionally, WSL scouting resources are currently disproportionately focused on European talent, leaving little budget or personnel to identify and evaluate emerging prospects across the African continent.
A third critical barrier is the lack of consistent, high-quality broadcast coverage for African women’s football and Wafcon in particular. This year’s tournament highlighted these gaps: even after Confederation of African Football (CAF) named Channel 4 as the UK broadcast partner, no first-round matches aired live after the formal agreement fell through. The tournament was also thrown into disarray when it was postponed just 12 days before its scheduled kickoff in Morocco, eventually being pushed back three months. Switzerland captain Lia Walti, who joined Brighton this summer, noted that poor broadcast quality and access hurts the visibility of women’s football globally, particularly in regions outside of Europe and North America.
“I think you have to bring the game to the people. You kind of have to force people to watch it. I felt that was how it maybe started in England,” Walti told BBC Sport. “In a lot of other countries I think they have bad coverage. It’s not shown at all, or if it’s shown, from where they film the game [makes it look] really poor. It affects the way you watch a game. You don’t really see the speed, the tactics or anything and you don’t enjoy watching the game.”
This year’s Wafcon delivered no shortage of breakthrough moments that proved African women’s football belongs on the global stage. Underdog Malawi defied all pre-tournament predictions to reach the final, qualifying for their first ever Women’s World Cup in 2027 alongside champions Cameroon, and semi-finalists Algeria and Morocco. Tabitha Chawinga said after the final that the team’s run put Malawian football on the map, and proved the quality of the continent’s teams against all odds.
“It’s really the best. No-one gave Malawi a chance to be in the finals, no-one gave Cameroon a chance to be in the finals,” she said. “But as you can see, we watched fantastic football. There was amazing football from both sides.”
Nnadozie, who paved the way for African players in the WSL with her move to Brighton, says her 2023 Ballon d’Or nomination helped shine a spotlight on the depth of talent across the continent, and called for more opportunities for African players to compete in top global leagues like the WSL.
“We have so many good players and they just need the opportunity to show what they can really do,” she said. “Very soon, we will have more numbers [in the Ballon d’Or nominations] from Africa. Trust me, there are so many good talents from Africa. Some players have had the opportunity to come to Europe but some have stayed back home. I hope in the future, bigger competitions will come to Africa. The Under-17s World Cup is in Morocco. This is big evidence that they are doing a lot of great jobs over there. It is just a matter of time. Women’s football is rising and Africa shouldn’t be left behind.”