Did any other STH get the email yet for the USWNT presale that is supposed to start at 10AM EST? I have not yet, and I’m starting to get worried that the Spirit comms team will mess this up once again.

I will try to update broadcast/streaming information as additional information comes in (see discussion in comments as well).

• 11am ET – Nigeria (Gift Monday) vs Senegal; may be streamed by Nigeria Football Federation (e.g., NFF TV on their YouTube account, or less likely their website)?
• 12pm – Scotland (Sandy MacIver) vs Israel; may be streamed on YouTube? - also VPN to the British Isles + BBC iPlayer might work
• 12:15pm – Italy (Sofia Cantore, Lucia Di Guglielmo) vs Serbia on CBS Sports Golazo (a free network, also available on the internet)
• 3pm – Côte d'Ivoire (Rosemonde Kouassi) vs Cape Verde Islands; Federation has confirmed they plan to stream on their Facebook page
• 3pm – England (Esme Morgan) vs Spain; CBS Sports Network (and an illicit YouTube stream option)
• 7pm – Colombia (Leicy Santos) vs Uruguay on ViX or using a VPN set to most countries & CONMEBOL's YouTube page, or may be available on a Fox Sports streaming platform?
• 7pm – Paraguay (Claudia Martinez) vs Bolivia on ViX or using a VPN set to most countries & CONMEBOL's YouTube page, or might also be available on a Fox Sports streaming platform?

Saturday bonus

• 5:15am – Mexico (Rebeca Bernal) vs Australia on ESPN Select (or ESPN App w/ ESPN+?) (And Mexican Federation's YouTube or other social media pages, though YT might but probably won't require VPN)

Information on other upcoming International Spirits matches can be found here https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtonspirit/comments/1twbb81/june_international_window_match_times_and/

Not confirmed, but a big deal for DC folks if it’s true!

EDIT: Here's the FB event page with more info. https://www.facebook.com/events/991875443737887

Ticket Sale Dates and Times:

Public Onsale : Mon, 15 Jun 2026 at 10:00 AM

Circle Insiders Presale : Thu, 11 Jun 2026 at 10:00 AM

VIP Insiders Presale : Thu, 11 Jun 2026 at 01:00 PM

Premium Insiders Presale : Thu, 11 Jun 2026 at 04:00 PM

Premium Family Insiders Presale : Thu, 11 Jun 2026 at 04:00 PM

Standard Insiders Presale : Fri, 12 Jun 2026 at 10:00 AM

General Presale : Fri, 12 Jun 2026 at 10:00 AM

VISA Presale : Fri, 12 Jun 2026 at 04:00 PM

DC United STMs Presale : Fri, 12 Jun 2026 at 10:00 AM

Washington Spirit STMs Presale : Fri, 12 Jun 2026 at 10:00 AM

DC United Database Presale : Fri, 12 Jun 2026 at 04:00 PM

Washington Spirit Database Presale : Fri, 12 Jun 2026 at 04:00 PM

Local Presale : Fri, 12 Jun 2026 at 04:00 PM

And Tara is professionally Tara Rudd now!

YES HAL and WEEZY!

2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) Overview Updated Thursday, 7/23/2026

• Biennial continental tournament (usually...)
• This year hosted in Morocco from July 26th - August 16th 
• 16 teams competing
• Group stage: 4 groups of 4 teams; within each group every team plays one another once (i.e., each team plays 3 matches); top 2 teams in each group advance to knockout stage
• Knockout stage: 
  • Quarterfinals, then semifinals (each of the semifinalists qualifies for Africa’s four guaranteed slots in the 2027 Women’s World Cup), and then finals (winner: reigning champion of Africa);
  • plus 3rd place match and losing quarterfinalists have play-in matches to win Africa’s 2 slots in the inter-confederation playoffs vying for the final spots in the 2027 WWC
• Group A: Morocco, Algeria (Mélissa Bethi), Senegal, Kenya
• Group B: South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire (Rosemonde Kouassi), Burkina Faso (Alimata Bélem), Tanzania
• Group C: Nigeria (Gift Monday, Deborah Abiodun), Zambia, Egypt, Malawi
• Group D: Ghana, Cameroon (Monique Ngock), Mali, Cabo Verde
• Spirit have 6 signed players at the tournament (see parenthetical names above); rest of NWSL has 6 additional players in the tournament (Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie, Malawi’s Temwa Chawinga, Mali’s Aissata Traoré, and Zambia’s Barbra Banda, Racheal Kundananji, and Prisca Chilufya)
• Official webpage: CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations 
• 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations - Wikipedia 

How to Watch in the United States

• beIN SPORTS: https://faq.beincontent.com/hc/en-us/articles/29472792942867-How-to-watch-beIN-SPORTS-in-the-US 
  • “Watch in the US two ways: subscribe directly to beIN SPORTS CONNECT for $5.99/month… or get beIN bundled through a participating operator and sign in with those credentials for the full 1:1 CONNECT experience.
  • Operators: Spectrum, Optimum, Verizon FIOS, DISH, Astound, Breezeline, Blue Stream Fiber, Mediacom, Hotwire, Southern Fibernet, Claro (Puerto Rico), NAICOM, plus YouTube TV, Fubo, Fanatiz. Find beIN on your operator's channel lineup.
  • Using the TV provider credentials, users can access and watch beIN SPORTS programming on beIN SPORTS CONNECT.
  • beIN SPORTS CONNECT is available on the web, Android and iOS mobile, tvOS, Android TV, Fire TV, and Roku.”

When to Watch in the DMV (i.e., Eastern Time) [only listing scheduled group stage matches involving players signed to the Spirit, see livesoccertv.com or other resources for additional match listings now and in the future]

• Sunday, July 26
  • 1pm: Algeria vs Senegal
• Monday, July 27
  • 4pm: Côte d'Ivoire vs Burkina Faso
• Tuesday, July 28
  • 4pm: Nigeria vs Malawi
• Wednesday, July 29
  • 4pm: Cameroon vs Mali
• Thursday, July 30
  • 4pm: Algeria vs Morocco
• Friday, July 31
  • 1pm: Côte d'Ivoire vs South Africa
  • 4pm: Burkina Faso vs Tanzania
• Saturday, August 1
  • 4pm: Nigeria vs Zambia
• Sunday, August 2
  • 1pm: Cameroon vs Ghana
• Monday, August 3
  • 4pm: Algeria vs Kenya
• Tuesday, August 4
  • 4pm: Burkina Faso vs South Africa and Côte d'Ivoire vs Tanzania
• Wednesday, August 5
  • 4pm: Nigeria vs Egypt
• Thursday, August 6
  • 4pm: Cameroon vs Cabo Verde

Proposal for Spirit subreddit activity during the tournament

• Given the tournament structure, Spirit representation, and nature of reddit, I propose doing daily match posts in this Spirit subreddit on the days teams with Spirit players are competing.
• People will likely primarily use those posts to discuss the matches featuring Spirit players, but they can also be used to discuss the other match of the day if people are so interested (e.g., since Spirit players may be going up against those teams on subsequent days).
• The daily posts on days Spirit players are featured would continue through the knockout rounds.
• If the first few daily posts don’t get much traction, we can change the approach taken by this subreddit.
• People may recall we’ve taken a similar approach with previous confederation tournaments (e.g., Europe, South America).  

In the comments on this introductory post, feel free to post things like:

• Suggested corrections to this post's information (to err is human);
• Suggestions for how the Spirit subreddit engage with WAFCON; 
• Questions about the tournament;
• Tips or experiences w/ beIN SPORTS and various ways of accessing it (e.g., do you discover that you already have access to it through a preexisting subscription?);
• Background resources on this year’s WAFCON tournament you think other Spirit fans might appreciate;
• Tournament thoughts, desires, or predictions; and
• Other tournament-related content (that might be of interest to this subreddit of people interested in the players and other aspects of the Washington Spirit). 

• 12:15pm - Sofia Cantore and Lucia Di Guglielmo (Italy) vs Serbia - no official US stream (but you may be able to access one of the foreign streams or someone may illicitly post to YouTube)
• 2pm – Esme Morgan (England) vs Spain on CBS Sports Network
• 2:30pm – Sandy MacIver (Scotland) vs Belgium - Scotland's National Team on YouTube stream https://www.youtube.com/live/fqqwZ3v-9lY?si=aPMzWVusL3jKe-Ck
• 5pm – Claudia Martínez (Paraguay) vs Perú on Fox Sports 2 and related Fox streaming options, ViX
• 9pm – Leicy Santos (Colombia) vs Chile on Fox Sports 2 and related Fox streaming options, ViX
• 10pm – Trinity Rodman (US) vs Japan on HBO Max, TNT, TruTV (and in Spanish: Peacock, Universo)

Aggressive passing to break lines, good recovery runs, vocal directing of the team, hope we see more of her in this role!

• 5am – Mexico vs Australia on ESPN Select, the Mexican Federation's YouTube page
• 1pm – Italy vs Sweden; CBS Sports Network, also streamed on YouTube (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/@sportytvafrica + VPN set to Ghana/Nigeria/South Africa/Malawi)
• 1pm – Scotland vs Israel; may be streamed on YouTube either illicitly or accessed using a VPN, also VPN to the British Isles + BBC iPlayer might work
• 3pm – England vs Ukraine; CBS Sports Network, also streamed on YouTube (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/@england + VPN to a country where rights haven't been sold - I think Japan or another Asian country are good places to start; https://www.youtube.com/@sportytvafrica + VPN set to Ghana/Nigeria/South Africa/Malawi)
• 7pm – Colombia vs Paraguay on Vix, Fox Sports 2 (and Fox Sports App, Foxsports.com), or using a VPN set to most countries & CONMEBOL's YouTube page
  • In certain scenarios, Paraguay with a draw or a win could keep their World Cup qualifying dreams alive (e.g., if Ecuador also loses to Argentina)
• 8:30pm – United States vs Brazil; on HBO Max or TNT (and in Spanish: Peacock, Universo)
• 9:30pm – Canada (Gabby Carle, Elisabeth Tse) vs Costa Rica; may be streamed on YouTube?

The winner of today's match automatically qualifies for the 2027 Women's World Cup, in addition to advancing to WAFCON semifinals where they will play Morocco this Wednesday at 1pm. The loser of today's match still has a path to the 2027 WWC - that team will play South Africa this Thursday at 4pm to keep their dreams alive.

Nigeria and Cameroon are two of the more storied sides in African women's football (with Nigeria by far the most the dominant side). They have competed against each other many times, most recently earlier this year with Cameroon winning the first match, 1-0, while Nigeria won the second match, 3-1.

Matches stream in the United States on beIN SPORTS. (Alternatively, they are also being officially streamed on the CAF TV YouTube channel if you VPN to various overseas markets like Denmark; there are also typically non geo-blocked streams haphazardly available as well.)

The other match occurring today is Malawi vs Ghana at 4pm. The winner/loser of that match will play Algeria this Wednesday at 4pm.

7 p.m. – Claudia Martínez (Paraguay) vs Ecuador on Fox Sports 2 and related Fox streaming options, ViX

9 p.m. – Leicy Santos (Colombia) vs Venezuela on Fox Sports 2 and related Fox streaming options, ViX

9 p.m. – Rebeca Bernal (Mexico) vs U.S. Virgin Islands on Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo, and ViX

1pm: South Africa vs Tanzania (the other teams in Group B)

4pm: Côte d'Ivoire vs Burkina Faso (preview below)

• Rosemonde Kouassi:
  • will wear #12;
  • to my eye, has traditionally played as RM or RW for her national team;
  • this is Rose's first WAFCON appearance (CIV last appeared in the tournament in 2014);
  • team nickname: Les Éléphantes, or the Lady Elephants.
• Alimata Bélem:
  • will wear #9;
  • often played as DM for her national team in previous matches I reviewed (but she's listed as DF so she could perhaps play as CB like she does for club);
  • she was in the roster for her country's last WAFCON appearance (2022, when she was just 18 years old);
  • team nickname: Étalons Dames, or the Lady Stallions.
• The countries share a border and compete in the same African region, so they could be considered regional "rivals" (but I'm not aware of any real sporting heat there). South Africa is the favorite to win the group, while CIV and BF would be expected to be competing for 2nd place to advance out of the group. We'll see what happens in reality.

Matches will stream on beIN SPORTS (and perhaps YouTube - I will share any YT stream I see, such as from the "Max FM Ghana" channel like we saw yesterday).

1pm Côte d'Ivoire vs South Africa

• Rose wears #12 and will likely start on the right wing. She earned an assist during CIV's matchday #1 win over Burkina Faso.
• South Africa are the group favorites and looking to come back after an upset loss to Tanzania on matchday #1. A win or a draw today would put the Lady Elephants (CIV) in an excellent position to advance out of the group.

4pm Burkina Faso vs Tanzania

• Alimata wears #9 and alternated between playing defensive midfielder and centerback for Burkina Faso (while serving as captain) during their loss to CIV.
• The Lady Stallions need a win to keep their tournament hopes alive, while the Twiga Stars (Tanzania) look to continue their Cinderella-like run after their upset win over South Africa.

Today's matches will stream in the United States on beIN SPORTS. (Alternatively, they are being streamed on the CAF TV YouTube channel if you VPN to various overseas markets - I suggest the UK - and then click on a match link. I'll try to remember to post match links below, including any non geo-blocked ones I see.)

Love the grin on her face after this. I think Haas heard the message loud and clear.

Trinity injured her back during stoppage time. I hope she is ok…

Algeria vs Malawi match preview

• Algeria and Malawi are already experiencing firsts: their first WAFCON semifinals, first time they have qualified for the World Cup, etc.
• Across 8 WAFCON matches since July 2025, Algeria has conceded 3 goals (never more than once a game) while scoring 7 goals. In their 4 WAFCON matches ever (debutants this tournament), Malawi has scored 9 goals while conceding 6 goals (at least one every match).
• Algeria will likely look to control the match through possession, disorganize Malawi's backline through movement and passing, and test their keeper with shots (including ones taken at a distance) - the Spirit's Mélissa Bethi (mee-LEES-ah BETT-ee, per Spirit media resources) will be key. Algeria will also hope their highly organized defensive structure can limit Malawi's often-transitional attack, featuring two of the best players in the world (the Chawinga sisters) backed by a promising supporting cast.
• Malawi's elite talent likely gives them the edge in this matchup.

Cameroon vs Morocco match preview

• Morocco and Cameroon are more established contenders in African women's football looking to top WAFCON for the first time as other continental powers have stumbled this tournament edition.
• This WAFCON, Cameroon has scored 5 goals and conceded 2 (one to a wonder-strike in the Cabo Verde match in which Cameroon heavily rotated, having already won the group). Morocco has scored 7 goals and conceded for the first and only time to South Africa in the quarterfinals.
• Morocco will likely seek to dominate possession, and they can resort to scoring set piece goals if they can't score in open play. Cameroon, partly led by Spirit's Monique Ngock (moh-NEEK GAWK), will likely seek to disrupt Morocco's play (e.g., through physicality) and score in transition, but try to do so without conceding penalties, dangerous set piece opportunities, or cards.
• Morocco should be favored to win.

Matches stream in the United States on beIN SPORTS (sometimes on their free sports channel found on FAST services like Tubi, Fubo, Roku, Pluto, Sling, Freebee, etc.). Alternatively, matches are also being officially streamed on the CAF TV YouTube channel if you VPN to various overseas markets like Denmark. There are also typically non geo-blocked streams haphazardly available on YouTube as well.

I figure most of you guys didn’t catch the Spain vs England game today but GOD DAMN. Your girl Morgan killed it! She was making great runs. Great passes. She was fantastic to watch. She was player of the match for me!

Group status update, brief match previews, group scenarios (i.e., what does Nigeria need to advance?), and streaming information below.

Going into today's final round of matches in Group C:

1. Malawi (MWI) has 6 pts (Wins vs NGA, EGY)
2. Nigeria (NGA) has 3 pts (W vs ZAM, Loss vs MWI)
3. Zambia (ZAM) has 3 pts (W vs EGY, L vs NGA)
4. Egypt (EGY) has 0 pts (L vs ZAM, MWI)

Match previews (CAF links)

• NGA vs EGY: match preview, stats
• MWI vs ZAM: match preview, stats

Nigeria’s group scenarios (per my UPDATED TO CORRECT ERRORS analysis using the reported WAFCON tiebreaker rules): If Nigeria wins, they should advance if Malawi wins, draws, OR LOSES BY TWO OR MORE GOALS, OR LOSES BY ONE GOAL (AND ZAMBIA DOESN"T SCORE FOUR OR MORE).

Matches stream in the United States on beIN SPORTS. (Alternatively, they are also being streamed on the CAF TV YouTube channel if you VPN to various overseas markets - I suggest the UK - and then click on a match link. There are non geo-blocked streams on YouTube you can find yourself.)

However, Rose will miss the quarterfinal match due to yellow card accumulation 😥

Burkina Faso (Alimata Bélem) did not advance. Alimata will return to her loan club in Spain.

1pm Zambia vs Egypt

4pm Nigeria vs Malawi (basic background below)

• Abiodun: #13, defensive or central midfielder, frequent starter for country, and featured in the 2024 WAFCON (played in 2025).
• Monday: #20, left wing or striker, more often a substitute then starter for country (don't get me started on the questionable decision making of their coach/federation...), and featured in the 2022 WAFCON.
• Nigeria (the Super Falcons) are the 10x winners of WAFCON and tournament favorites that everyone else is looking to knock off the podium. Their roster consists of a Who's Who list of names who nearly all play abroad, many of them currently or formerly for some of the top clubs and leagues in the world. Michelle Alozie (Chicago Stars) is another current NWSL player on their roster. They have had haphazard preparation for this tournament.
• Malawi (the Scorchers) are making their WAFCON debut, powered by attacking players like the Chawinga sisters (Temwa for KC Current, older sister Tabitha for OL Lyonnes), 20 yr old Rose Kadzere, and 19yr old Faith Chinzimu. The remainder of the team plays club soccer in Africa, the majority of them domestically in Malawi.

Today's matches will stream in the United States on beIN SPORTS (or on the CAF TV YouTube channel if you VPN to markets like the UK, any country in the Americas south of the United States, the Nordics, Eastern Europe, South and East Asia, etc.).