Cameroon Win First WAFCON Title, Beating Malawi 3-0

CAMEROON · SPORT

Three goals and a half-hour

Cameroon settled the final before the interval. Marie Ngah opened the scoring on twenty minutes, Naomi Ndjoah Eto added a second on the half-hour, and Ngah struck again in stoppage time at the end of the half.

Malawi, playing in their first WAFCON, never recovered. The Egyptian referee Shahenda Elmaghrabi took charge of a match that was effectively over by the break.

For Cameroon it closes a long account. They had lost the 2004, 2014 and 2016 finals, all three to Nigeria, and had never scored in a WAFCON final before Sunday.

The Cameroon WAFCON title came the hard way

The Cameroon WAFCON title was not a soft draw. They came through the group stage past Ghana, then eliminated the holders Nigeria 1-0 in the quarter-final.

The semi-final took them past the hosts. Morocco could not be separated from them across 120 minutes. Fatima Tagnaout missed a penalty in the 118th, and Cameroon won the shootout 3-1.

They are the fourth different country to win the tournament, after Nigeria with ten titles, Equatorial Guinea with two and South Africa with one. By CAF’s count they are also only the third nation to have won both the men’s and women’s Africa Cup of Nations, after Nigeria and South Africa.

The individual awards went largely the same way. Michaely Bihina took the Golden Glove and Monique Ngock was named Woman of the Competition, while Malawi’s Temwa Chawinga won the Golden Boot on five goals.

The money moved too

CAF doubled the winners’ cheque for this edition, from US$1m to US$2m. The total prize pot rose by 67%, from US$3.475m to US$5.8m.

Runners-up now collect US$750,000, up by half. Every one of the sixteen participating teams takes US$150,000 simply for being there, against US$125,000 previously.

Those are not European numbers, but the direction is unmistakable. CAF has not published a breakdown that reconciles the placings and participation fees to the US$5.8 million total.

The prize fund has risen by two thirds inside a single cycle. The winners’ cheque has doubled.

What Rabat decided about Brazil

The tournament doubled as African qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which Brazil hosts. Africa has four direct places and two entries to the inter-confederation play-off.

The four semi-finalists took the direct slots: Cameroon, Malawi, Morocco and Algeria. For Malawi it is a first World Cup of any kind, secured in the same fortnight as a first continental final.

South Africa and Ghana claimed the two play-off berths, each winning 2-1 on 13 August, over Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire respectively.

Which produces the headline nobody in Lagos wanted. Nigeria have played every Women’s World Cup since the first in 1991. They are out. Losing 2-1 to South Africa on 13 August cost them the play-off berth, and with it any route to Brazil.

Why this matters from São Paulo

Brazil 2027 will be the first Women’s World Cup held in South America, and the African contingent arriving there has just been reshaped. Two of the four direct qualifiers, Morocco and Algeria, are North African; one, Malawi, has never played at the tournament.

That is a different Africa from the one Brazilian audiences last saw. The dominant team of the past three decades has to go through a play-off to get on the plane.

The third-place match said something similar. Algeria beat the hosts Morocco on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Rabat on 15 August, Kautar Azraf having scored for Morocco and Lina Boussaha for Algeria, with Ines Belloumou converting the decisive kick.

Algeria’s third place was their first ever WAFCON podium finish. For a tournament that expanded to sixteen teams and doubled its prize money, the outcome is close to the ideal advertisement. A first-time champion, a debutant finalist and a continental superpower left counting the cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations?

Cameroon beat Malawi 3-0 in Rabat on 16 August 2026 to win their first WAFCON title. Marie Ngah scored twice and Naomi Ndjoah Eto once, all before half-time.

Which African teams qualified for the 2027 Women’s World Cup?

Cameroon, Malawi, Morocco and Algeria took Africa’s four direct places by reaching the WAFCON semi-finals. South Africa and Ghana go into the inter-confederation play-off tournament.

Did Nigeria qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup?

No. Nigeria failed to qualify for a Women’s World Cup for the first time, having appeared at every edition since 1991.

How much prize money did the WAFCON winners receive?

CAF doubled the winners’ prize to US$2m and raised the total pot by 67% to US$5.8m. Runners-up receive US$750,000 and every one of the sixteen teams gets US$150,000 for taking part.

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