Cameroon Crowned WAFCON Champions After Historic Triumph Over Malawi

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CAMEROONONLINE.ORG | RABAT, Morocco — Cameroon have been crowned champions of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, completing a remarkable tournament run with victory over Malawi in the 2026 final.

The Indomitable Lionesses entered the championship match at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat with an opportunity to claim their first WAFCON title, having previously come agonisingly close to continental glory. This time, Cameroon finished the job, overcoming a Malawi side whose extraordinary debut campaign had already made history.

The victory represents a landmark moment for Cameroonian women’s football and brings an end to years of near misses on the continental stage.

Cameroon arrived in the final after one of the tournament’s most dramatic knockout runs. They defeated hosts Morocco in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals following a goalless draw, with goalkeeper Michaely Bihina emerging as one of the heroes after saving three penalties. Across their two knockout matches before the final, Bihina had made 12 saves, underlining the defensive resilience that became a defining feature of Cameroon’s campaign.

The Indomitable Lionesses had conceded just twice on their route to the championship match and had already recorded three victories in open play before facing Malawi.

Their opponents had produced one of the stories of the tournament.

Playing at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations for the first time, Malawi surged all the way to the final and became the first Southern African nation to reach the championship match on their tournament debut. The Scorchers defeated Algeria 3-1 in the semi-finals after previously overcoming Ghana in the quarter-finals.

Malawi’s historic run ensured that, regardless of the result, the 2026 tournament would crown a first-time WAFCON champion.

For Cameroon, however, the final represented the culmination of a determined campaign built on organisation, defensive strength and resilience under pressure.

Their semi-final victory over host nation Morocco offered the clearest indication of that character. After neither side could find a breakthrough during regulation time, Cameroon prevailed 3-1 in the penalty shootout to secure their place in the final.

Now, after overcoming Malawi in Rabat, the Indomitable Lionesses can finally call themselves champions of Africa.

The triumph adds a new chapter to Cameroon’s football history and establishes the current generation of Lionesses as the team that finally converted years of continental promise into WAFCON glory.

For Malawi, defeat does little to diminish a groundbreaking tournament. Reaching the final in their first WAFCON appearance — while securing a place among Africa’s emerging women’s football powers — ensures their 2026 campaign will also be remembered as one of the competition’s remarkable stories.

But the final night belonged to Cameroon.

After navigating the group stage, surviving the pressure of the knockout rounds and eliminating the tournament hosts, the Indomitable Lionesses completed their journey by lifting African women’s football’s biggest prize.

Cameroon are the champions of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.