By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
The curtains fell on the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) on August 16, 2026, as two nations, Cameroon and Malawi that have never won the continental showpiece before clashing in the epic final of the 14th edition with the Indomitable Lionesses winning 3-0 against the Scorchers at Stade Olympique de Rabat in Morocco to claim the Confederation of African Football (CAF) title for the first time.
By this victory, Cameroon has become the fourth country in the 28 years history of the tournament to win the WAFCON trophy behind serial champions Nigeria with 10 titles; Equatorial Guinea winning twice and South Africa just once in 2022.
It was also Cameroon’s fourth WAFCON final appearance before winning it in the fourth attempt after suffering three crushing defeats in the hands of Super Falcons by losing 5-0 in 2004 final, also lost 2-0 in 2014 and more painfully Cameroon lost by a lone goal in the 2016 final with Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, his wife Chantal Biya and top government officials present at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde.
Prior to their emphatic 3-0 triumph over Malawi in the WAFCON 2026 final on Sunday in Rabat, Cameroon eliminated host Morocco 3-1 on penalties after full-time result stood at 0-0 to qualify in the semi-finals match.
Also, Cameroon defeated nemesis Nigeria 1-0 in the quarter-finals stage to ensure that the Super Falcons did not pick the automatic ticket for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil next year or reach the semi-final of WAFCON in Morocco.
The Indomitable Lionesses under the leadership of coach Valentina Nguele had defeated Mali 2-1 and Ghana 1-0 as well as played out a 1-1 draw with debutants Cape Verde in the preliminary stage to top Group D with seven points.
A closer look at Cameroon’s performance in Morocco, showed clearly that the newly crowned African champions did not lose any match in the just concluded biggest women’s football competition in Africa.
Cameroon team’s exceptional performance in the just concluded WAFCON spoke for itself as the country won big in Morocco as the Indomitable Lionesses did not only lift their maiden WAFCON trophy after walloping surprise package Malawi 3-0 in the finals, three Cameroonians won individual awards.
These are WAFCON 2026 Player of the Tournament: Monique Ngock; Best Goalkeeper: Michaely Bihina and Player of the Final: Marie Ngah Manga.
Indeed, Cameroon came to the tournament very prepared to get their hands on the elusive trophy as it has now been revealed that the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fédération Camerounaise de Football), commonly known as FECAFOOT led by Samuel Eto’o Fils .
Determined to give the senior women’s team a new impetus, FECAFOOT in June 2026, overhauled the Technical and Administrative Staff of the Indomitable Lionesses, appointing Valentine Nguele who joined from FC Ebolowa as Head Coach and Technical Director of the Indomitable Lionesses and Dimitri Lipoff as Selection Coordinator ahead of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Dimitri Lipoff, a French professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Al Ahly Women in the Egyptian Women’s Premier League, joined the new Coaching and Technical Staff led by Nguele (replacing Mike Josephine Ndoumou/Jean Baptiste Bisseck).
Other members of the crew are Goalkeepers’ Coach: Frederic AnikineStrength and Conditioning Coach: Engelbert Ndougsa while Team Manager is Lydie Precile Matip Matip, Team Doctor and two Physiotherapists
The impact on the Team FECAFOOT made the sweeping changes to give the squad optimal preparation conditions is that the new technical direction successfully guided the team through a stellar run at the 2026 WAFCON tournament in Morocco, securing qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup and lifting the WAFCON trophy for the first time-ever.
In fact, the performance of the coaching crew Eto’o
handpicked was like the Super Falcons coaching staff for the WAFCON in 2016 in Cameroon which was picked by former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Amaju Melvin Pinnick that won the trophy in Cameroon.
Pinnick in his wisdom convinced the NFF management and Executive Committee Members to support his choice of all-female technical crew of three ex-internationals Florence Omagbemi, Perpetua Nkwocha and Ann Agumanu-Chiejine and they delivered Nigeria’s 8th WAFCON trophy in 2016.
Like Pinnick, Eto’o’s restructured new Indomitable Lionesses’ coaching setup that secured a spot in WAFCON 2026 following the 16-team tournament expansion by CAF went on to win it.
This is a model other countries who fell by the way side in Morocco should adopt especially Nigeria that went to the tournament as the defending champion but returned home empty-handed and failing to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
Meanwhile, the 2026 WAFCON which was
concluded in Morocco on Sunday with Cameroon crowned as the new champions of Africa after defeating debutants Malawi 3-0 in the final saw Algeria claim the Bronze medal by winning the Third-place Playoff against hosts Morocco.
By implication, Cameroon, Malawi, Algeria and Morocco picked the four automatic tickets to represent Africa in Brazil 2027 while South Africa that defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the African Play-off match and Ghana that edged out Ivory Coast 2-1 will represent CAF in the FIFA Inter-continental Play-off later in the year and next year.
If South Africa and Ghana make it in the Inter-continental Play-off, Africa will be represented in the global women’s football competition in Brazil by six African nations yet the most successful team in Africa with 10 continental trophies to show for it did not qualify for the competition.
Aside from Nigeria other countries that disappointed their home supporters are Ivory Coast, Zambia, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Cape Verde (with one point in three matches) even as not much was expected from Egypt and Kenya with zero point in three matches.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
In summary, there is no gainsaying the fact that Cameroon, Malawi, Algeria, Morocco, Ghana and South Africa were the winners as curtains fall on WAFCON 2026 while the heavy losers are the 10-time African champions Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Zambia who have previously been at the World Cup.
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Past Participants/ Appearances in Women’s World Cup Finals
Nigeria: 9 appearances (played in every tournament from 1991 to 2023)Ghana: 3 appearances (1999, 2003, 2007
)South Africa: 2 appearances (2019, 2023)
Cameroon: 2 appearances (2015, 2019)
Equatorial Guinea: 1 appearance (2011)
Ivory Coast: 1 appearance (2015)
Morocco: 1 appearance (2023)
*Zambia: * 1 appearance (2023)
WAFCON 2026 TOP PRIZES:
Champions: Cameroon (first-ever WAFCON title)
Runners-up: Malawi (historic debut performance)
Third Place: Algeria
Fourth Place: Morocco
Individual Awards:
Golden Boot: Temwa Chawinga (Malawi)
Player of the Tournament: Monique Ngock (Cameroon)
Best Goalkeeper: Michaely Bihina (Cameroon)
Player of the Final: Marie Ngah Manga (Cameroon, two goals)
Fair Play Award: Algeria
