The small representation in the WSL is not because of a lack of talent in Africa. National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) clubs in America have shown huge interest, spending big money on some of the continent's best players. Zambia forward Racheal Kundananji became the most expensive women's footballer at the time in 2024 when she joined Bay FC from Madrid CFF for £685,000. Her compatriot Barbra Banda, who plays for Orlando Pride, was voted the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year in the same year.

Cameroon's Wafcon player of the tournament Monique Ngock is at Washington Spirit, where six African international players currently reside. Temwa Chawinga won the NWSL Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player awards in her first two seasons with Kansas City Current. Her sister, Malawi captain Tabitha Chawinga, plays for European giants Lyon and helped her country reach the final of Wafcon last week, where they lost to Cameroon.

Michaely Bihina, who was a standout performer in the tournament for Cameroon, plays for Benfica. Nnadozie, who notably became the first African goalkeeper to be shortlisted for the Women's Ballon d'Or award, joined Brighton last year. The Seagulls goalkeeper ended her season with an FA Cup final appearance at Wembley against WSL champions Manchester City. A major barrier for WSL clubs hoping to sign African talent is the Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) criteria set out in the league's registration rules.

Foreign players must earn a minimum number of points in five categories to be eligible for a GBE visa. The number of caps they have for their national team, appearances in the Women's Champions League and the ranking of their former clubs play a part. WSL sides also have to compete with the wages and transfer fees being offered by NWSL clubs, who are targeting the best African footballers.

They have to use resources for scouting which, at the moment, is prioritised across Europe. Another major issue is the lack of coverage given to the domestic game in Africa, as well as issues around Wafcon. There was confusion in this edition when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) named Channel 4 as the UK broadcast partner, but no matches were shown live in the opening round as an agreement had not been formally reached.

The tournament had also been postponed just 12 days before it was set to kick off in Morocco, eventually taking place three months later. Switzerland captain Lia Walti, who signed for Brighton this summer, told BBC Sport that, globally, coverage of women's football has room for improvement. "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," she said. "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.".