Edited by Paul Elegbeleye | Photo: Happiraphael / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cameroon beat Malawi 3-0 in Rabat on Sunday to win their first-ever Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title, ending a wait that stretched back to their tournament debut in 2004.
Marie Ngah Manga scored twice, and Naomi Eto added the other as the Indomitable Lionesses raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first half at the Moulay Hassan Stadium, brushing aside a Malawi side appearing at their first ever WAFCON finals. The victory secured Cameroon $2 million in prize money and a place at next year’s Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
Why did this final matter so much? Cameroon had lost three previous WAFCON finals, in 2004, 2014 and 2016, and every single one of those defeats came against Nigeria. Reaching a fourth final already represented redemption.
Actually winning it turned decades of near-misses into history, making Cameroon just the fourth nation to lift the trophy since the competition’s centralised format began, following Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa.
Malawi’s run to the final had captured attention across the continent. Ranked 153rd in the world, the lowest-ranked side in the tournament, they arrived in Morocco with little expectation and leaned heavily on the attacking talents of sisters Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga to reach the showpiece.
“I feel like it’s a dream,” Ngah Manga said afterwards, according to allAfrica. “Cameroon have been working hard to have this moment, and today for us to be champion of Africa is a very, very wonderful thing.”
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How Cameroon Dominated the First Half
Cameroon settled quickest and never let Malawi find their footing. Grace Mendoua’s header back across goal was tipped onto the bar by Malawi goalkeeper Mercy Sikelo in the 20th minute, and Ngah Manga pounced on the rebound from close range to open the scoring.
Momentum kept building from there. Naomi Eto doubled the lead on the half-hour mark with a first-time finish after Malawi failed to clear a corner, then combined again with Ngah Manga three minutes into first-half stoppage time, rounding the goalkeeper before squaring the ball for her strike partner to tap home.
- Marie Ngah Manga: finished the tournament with five goals, level with Temwa Chawinga and South Africa’s Barbra Banda for the golden boot race.
- Michaely Bihina: the 22-year-old goalkeeper made nine saves against Nigeria in the quarter-final and saved four penalties in the semi-final shootout against Morocco.
- Cameroon’s defence: restricted the Chawinga sisters to just three shots on target across the entire final.
Malawi improved after the break, and Cameroon coach Valentine Nguele, who only took charge in June, watched her side survive a spell of pressure just after the hour mark when Tabitha Chawinga forced a save from Bihina before her sister fired the rebound wide.
A Result That Resonates in Nigeria
Nigerian football fans following this tournament will already know the significance behind Cameroon’s run. The Indomitable Lionesses had never beaten Nigeria at a WAFCON final in 13 previous meetings before this year. Yet they stunned the ten-time champions 1-0 in the quarter-final in Casablanca, ending the Super Falcons’ interest early and clearing their own path to the title.
Nigeria still hold a commanding overall record in the fixture and remains the tournament’s most successful side by a wide margin, but Cameroon’s win shows that gap can close on the right day.
CAF’s decision to expand the finals from 12 to 16 teams also played its part. Cameroon failed to qualify outright, losing on aggregate to Algeria in the second round, yet advanced through their world ranking once the field grew. That expansion gave both finalists their route to Rabat, and it now looks vindicated after producing a final nobody predicted twelve months ago.
What Comes Next for Cameroon and Malawi
Both finalists have already secured their place at the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, alongside semi-finalists Morocco and Algeria. For Cameroon, the challenge now shifts to proving this triumph marks a genuine changing of the guard rather than a single golden run.
Malawi, meanwhile, will hope their fairytale campaign inspires investment back home, since a team ranked outside the world’s top 150 has just shown the rest of the continent exactly what is possible.
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