Malawi and Cameroon will contest the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final after producing contrasting semifinal victories in Rabat on Wednesday, with the debutant Scorchers defeating Algeria 3-1 before the Indomitable Lionesses edged hosts Morocco 3-1 on penalties.
The results have set up an intriguing final between a Malawi side enjoying a remarkable tournament debut and a Cameroon team seeking another continental crown.
Malawi continued their extraordinary run at the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Algeria at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat.
The Scorchers, who are appearing at the WAFCON for the first time, have now reached the final after eliminating Nigeria, Ghana and Algeria during their remarkable campaign.
The Chawinga sisters once again provided the inspiration. Tabitha Chawinga scored twice, while her sister Temwa Chawinga added the other as Malawi became the first WAFCON debutants since Zimbabwe in 2000 to reach the final.
The semifinal was an eventful contest that saw both teams reduced to 10 players.
Algeria suffered the first setback in the 23rd minute when Morgane Belkhiter was sent off following a VAR review for denying Tabitha Chawinga a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Malawi took advantage of their numerical superiority 10 minutes later. Tabitha produced a spectacular overhead kick that struck the crossbar before crossing the line, giving the Scorchers the lead in memorable fashion.
The advantage was doubled just before half time when Temwa Chawinga found the net to give Malawi a 2-0 lead.
But the drama was not over, Malawi was also reduced to 10 players shortly before the interval when Rose Kadzere was shown a red card following a VAR review for a high challenge. that meant both teams entered the second half with 10 players.
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Algeria refused to surrender despite falling two goals behind. Ikram Adjabi pulled one back in the 60th minute, giving the North Africans renewed hope of completing another comeback after their quarterfinal victory over Côte d’Ivoire.
Malawi, however, responded decisively. Tabitha Chawinga struck again in the 76th minute, beating the Algerian defence to restore Malawi’s two-goal advantage and effectively settle the contest.
The victory completed another remarkable chapter in Malawi’s debut campaign. The Scorchers have now won four matches at the tournament and become the first WAFCON debutants since Zimbabwe in 2000 to reach the final.
Their attacking numbers have also been impressive. Malawi entered the semifinal as the tournament’s highest scoring remaining team with nine goals, while Temwa Chawinga had already registered four goals and two assists.
Her six goal involvements had matched Zambia’s Barbra Banda for the tournament lead.
The defeat brought an end to a historic campaign for Algeria. They reached the WAFCON semifinals for the first time and also secured qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, their first appearance at the global tournament.
Cameroon break Moroccan hearts
If Malawi’s victory was built on attacking brilliance, Cameroon’s triumph over Morocco was a story of patience, defensive discipline and penalty-shootout composure.
The Indomitable Lionesses defeated hosts Morocco 3-1 on penalties after 120 minutes of football ended goalless at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium.
The result sends Cameroon into their fourth WAFCON final and ends Morocco’s hopes of reaching the continental showpiece for a third consecutive edition.
Morocco entered the semifinal with a perfect record in their previous two WAFCON semifinals, having defeated Nigeria in 2022 and Ghana in 2024 both times on penalties. this time, however, the shootout went against them.
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The hosts had the biggest opportunity to win the match during extra time.
With the game still goalless, Morocco were awarded a penalty in the 118th minute, giving Fatima Tagnaout the chance to send the home side into another WAFCON final.
But Tagnaout failed to convert, a costly miss that ultimately sent the semifinal to penalties.
Morocco converted only one of their four attempts, with Hanane Aït El Haj scoring.
Kenza Chapelle, Maryame Atiq and Sakina Ouzraoui all failed to convert their penalties.
Cameroon were considerably more composed. Marie Ngah, Rose Bella and Myriam Nyadjou converted their efforts, while Grace Mendoua missed the other attempt.
The 3-1 shootout victory ended Cameroon’s longstanding penalty shootout hoodoo at the WAFCON.
The Indomitable Lionesses had lost all three of their previous shootouts at the tournament, including their 2018 semifinal defeat to Nigeria.
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Cameroon’s victory comes just days after they stunned defending champions Nigeria 1-0 in the quarterfinals.
Myriam Nyadjou, who scored the winning goal against Nigeria, was again among the successful penalty takers against Morocco.
Cameroon have now eliminated the defending champions and the hosts in successive knockout rounds. Their route to the final has also shows their experience in the latter stages of the competition.
This is their 11th WAFCON semifinal appearance, second only to Nigeria’s 13. They had previously reached three finals, winning the tournament in 2016 but finishing runners-up in 1998 and 2014.
A victory over Malawi would give Cameroon another opportunity to add to their two continental titles.
A final between two remarkable stories
Sunday’s final will bring together two sides who have taken very different routes to the championship match.
Malawi are the fairytale story. They arrived at their first WAFCON finals as debutants but have since eliminated some of the continent’s established powers and produced one of the tournament’s most exciting attacking units.
At the centre of it all are the Chawinga sisters, with Tabitha’s semifinal brace taking her influence to another level.
Cameroon, meanwhile, have relied on experience. they first removed defending champions Nigeria before surviving a tense 120-minute battle against Morocco and finally overcoming their penalty shootout curse.
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The Indomitable Lionesses are now one victory away from another African title while Malawi also has a chance to complete one of the greatest debut campaigns in WAFCON history but only one of them will be crowned African champions on Sunday.
