Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
In a night that will forever be etched in the annals of African football, Cameroon finally shed the tag of perennial bridesmaids to be crowned queens of the continent. The Indomitable Lionesses produced a devastating first-half display to dismantle tournament debutants Malawi 3-0 in the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations final at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat, Morocco, on Sunday, August 16, securing their first-ever continental title after more than two decades of near misses and heartbreak.
The victory was a long time coming. Cameroon had previously reached three WAFCON finals – in 2004, 2014, and 2016 – and lost all three to Nigeria without scoring a single goal in those title matches. But on this balmy evening in the Moroccan capital, the script was rewritten with breathtaking finality. All three goals came in a blistering first half that left Malawi shell-shocked and the Cameroonian faithful in ecstasy.
Marie Ngah Manga, the tournament's breakout star, opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a poacher's finish, pouncing on a rebound after Malawi goalkeeper Mercy Sikelo had tipped Grace Mendoua's header onto the bar. Ten minutes later, the Indomitable Lionesses doubled their lead through a moment of pure brilliance. Naomi Eto, set up by Myriam Nyadjou, swivelled and unleashed a stunning first-time volley into the bottom corner, leaving the Malawi defence rooted to the spot. The third and decisive blow came deep into first-half stoppage time. Eto turned provider, rounding the goalkeeper and squaring the ball for Ngah Manga to tap in her second of the night, completing her brace and sending Cameroon into the break with an unassailable 3-0 lead.
The second half was a testament to Cameroon's defensive resilience. Malawi, who had arrived at the final as the tournament's leading scorers with 12 goals, were expected to mount a fightback. The Chawinga sisters – Tabitha and Temwa – had been the driving force behind the Scorchers' remarkable run, but they were expertly marshalled by a disciplined Cameroon backline that had conceded only twice before the final. Malawi's best opportunity came shortly after the hour mark, when Cameroon goalkeeper Michaely Bihina saved a low effort from Tabitha Chawinga, and her younger sister fired the rebound wide. It was a rare lapse in a defence that had been impregnable throughout the tournament.
For Cameroon, the triumph was all the more remarkable given the circumstances of their participation. The Indomitable Lionesses had failed to qualify for the 2024 edition and initially missed out on the 2026 finals after a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Algeria in the second round. However, they were handed a lifeline when the Confederation of African Football expanded the tournament from 12 to 16 teams, and Cameroon secured a place based on their world ranking. They grabbed that opportunity with both hands, beating Ghana in the group stage, eliminating 10-time champions Nigeria 1-0 in the quarter-finals, and edging past hosts Morocco on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the semi-finals.
The victory was a personal triumph for head coach Valentine Nguele, who had been appointed just two months before the tournament. The first female head coach of Cameroon's women's national team, Nguele guided the Lionesses through an undefeated campaign, topping Group D and defeating Nigeria, Morocco, and Malawi on the way to the title. Twenty-nine years after starting her journey as a player, she became only the fourth coach to win the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, penning a glorious new chapter in the story of Cameroonian women's football.
The final whistle brought an emotional conclusion to one of the most remarkable campaigns in Cameroon's history. The Indomitable Lionesses became just the fourth nation to win the WAFCON, joining Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and South Africa. They also secured $2 million in prize money and automatically qualified for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil, alongside fellow semi-finalists Algeria and Morocco. For Malawi, the defeat was a bitter end to a fairy-tale campaign, but their journey to the final – the first Southern African debutants to achieve such a feat – will be remembered as one of the tournament's most inspiring stories. As Marie Ngah Manga, the heroine of the final, summed it up: "We have been working so hard over all these years to get here. To finally be champions we are very proud".
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