Gabon withdrew as hosts due to "organizational reasons",[1] thus CAF gave this tournament edition's hosting rights to Nigeria in May 2006.[2] Initially, this edition of the tournament was scheduled for September 2006, but it was moved to October due to weather considerations.[3]
This edition of the tournament also doubled as the African qualification for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. Nigeria won its 7th consecutive title, beating Ghana 1–0 in the final, although both finalists were guaranteed qualification to that edition of the international tournament in China. South Africa's Portia Modise was named player of the championship.[4]
The original hosts (Gabon) qualified automatically, while the remaining seven spots were determined by the qualification rounds which took place from March to August 2006.
Nigeria initially entered qualification at the second round and was scheduled to play Equatorial Guinea when CAF elected them as replacement hosts, thus that match was scrapped and both teams qualified for the group stage at Gabon's expense.
Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied; if scores still level, extra time would be skipped and the use of a penalty shoot-out would determine the qualifier. The seven winners of the qualification round qualified for the group stage.
Equatorial Guinea arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in a private chartered plane which had no clearance to land, with its players unable to disembark for 3 hours. This left them no other choice than to return home unhappy with the treatment they received by airport officials despite organizers trying to remedy the situation.[5] However, their first match was played as scheduled.
Nigeria (7th title)
Ghana
South Africa
Cameroon
Equatorial Guinea
Algeria
DR Congo
Mali
4', 43'
