Cameroon have been crowned Women's Africa Cup of Nations champions for the first time in the tournament's history, defeating Malawi 3-0 in the final in Rabat to announce a genuine changing of the guard on the continent. It was a result few would have predicted at the start of the tournament — and one that carries real weight given just how recently Cameroon's place in the competition was even confirmed.
How Cameroon got here
Cameroon did not qualify for this edition of the Wafcon through the standard route. They were added to the field only when the tournament was expanded to 16 teams last November, making their eventual triumph all the more remarkable. They had not reached a Wafcon final in a decade and had never managed to score a single goal in a final before — yet they had three on the board before the half-time whistle against Malawi.
Much of the credit belongs to Valentine Nguele, who was appointed as Cameroon's first ever female head coach just two months before the tournament began. Nguele, who holds a Confederation of African Football A coaching licence and built an impressive record at club level in her homeland, transformed the side into a disciplined, clinical outfit. They topped their group, knocked out ten-time champions Nigeria in the quarter-finals, beat hosts Morocco in the semi-finals on penalties, and then dispatched Malawi in the final. Nguele becomes the fifth female coach to win the Wafcon title — an achievement that deserves far wider recognition than it will likely receive.
Malawi's remarkable journey
For all the celebration around Cameroon, the story of Malawi cannot go untold. Ranked 153rd in the world and appearing at the Wafcon for the first time, they reached the final against every expectation. Their run through the competition secured something arguably more significant than the trophy itself: a first-ever World Cup appearance, with Malawi set to feature at next year's tournament in Brazil. Alongside them, Morocco and Algeria have also qualified for the World Cup for the first time — a genuinely historic outcome from a single tournament.
Nigeria's alarming decline
The flipside of Cameroon's glory is Nigeria's collapse. The Super Falcons failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time in the competition's history, a result damaging enough on its own. What followed was worse: a 2-1 defeat to South Africa in the World Cup playoff that means Nigeria will miss the global tournament entirely — another first. The Nigerian Football Federation responded by sacking head coach Justine Madugu and his entire technical staff, and announced a taskforce to investigate what went wrong. That taskforce has its work cut out.
Morocco, too, will reflect on a tournament that promised much on home soil and delivered precious little. They were particularly poor in penalty shootouts, scoring just once from four attempts against Cameroon in the semi-final, and twice from five against Algeria in the third-place playoff. Having appeared in the previous two Wafcon finals, expectations were high — and the manner of their exit will sting.
The players who shone
Goalkeeper Michaely Bihina won the tournament's golden glove with a series of composed, commanding performances. Her quarter-final against Nigeria — nine saves to help eliminate the most decorated side in Wafcon history — was the standout individual display of the competition. She conceded just two goals across six matches and kept a clean sheet in the final.
The best player award went to Cameroonian midfielder Monique Ngock, whose personal connection to the tournament gives the triumph an extra layer of meaning. Ngock was 12 years old when she watched Cameroon lose the 2016 final and wept. A decade on, she was central to the side that finally put that right.
What this means for the women's game in Africa
Crowd figures at the tournament were a concern, according to reports, and that remains an ongoing challenge for the Wafcon and African women's football more broadly. But the quality on the pitch and the scale of the stories emerging from this edition — a first-time champion, a debutant finalist, four nations heading to the World Cup — suggest the game is in a genuinely exciting place. Whether governing bodies and broadcasters give it the platform it deserves is, as ever, another question entirely.
Frequently asked
- Who won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations 2026?
- Cameroon won the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) for the first time, beating Malawi 3-0 in the final held in Rabat, Morocco.
- Will Nigeria be at the 2027 Women's World Cup?
- No. Nigeria lost their World Cup playoff 2-1 to South Africa, meaning they will miss the Women's World Cup in Brazil — the first time Nigeria have failed to qualify for the tournament.
- Which African teams qualified for the 2027 Women's World Cup from Wafcon 2026?
- Cameroon, Malawi, Morocco, and Algeria all qualified for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil. It will be the first World Cup appearance for both Malawi and Algeria.