Dominant Cameroon win first WAFCON title with 3-0 victory over Malawi

Cameroon are continental champions for the very first time. On Sunday, the Indomitable Lionesses resoundingly defeated tournament debutants Malawi 3-0 in the 2026 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final in Rabat, Morocco.

Cameroon boasted the tournament’s best defense throughout the competition, conceding just two goals and none in the knockout stage. However, they faced their biggest test on Sunday as they were tasked with keeping Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga at bay. The Chawinga sisters’ combined nine tournament goals helped power Malawi to an improbable final, as Malawi were the lowest-ranked FIFA team, at 153rd, to reach a WAFCON final.

Malawi opened Sunday’s final on the front foot. Tabitha Chawinga ripped a ferocious cross from the right wing within the opening thirty seconds. She continued to keep Cameroon’s defense honest early with threaded passes to her sister. And in the 10th minute, Temwa Chawinga latched onto a pass from Tabitha, but Cameroon goalkeeper Michaely Bihina quickly snuffed out the chance. 

Malawi is nicknamed the Scorchers, and their best chance at WAFCON glory rested on the mighty shoulders of the Chawingas. However, it was Cameroon’s offense that caught fire in the first half.

For all the attacking brilliance of Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga, Malawi’s defense and goalkeeper had prompted question marks throughout the tournament. Malawi had conceded seven goals heading into the final and had failed to keep a clean sheet. It would prove to be their Achilles’ heel on Sunday. 

In the 20th minute, Cameroon winger Naomi Eto launched a dangerous cross into the box. Malawi goalkeeper Mercy Sikelo got a glove to it, but the ball bounced off the crossbar and onto the head of Grace Mendoua. Striker Marie Ngah deftly finished off the play with a goal to give Cameroon an early one-goal advantage. 

Eto would make her mark again nine minutes later, meeting a corner kick with a no-look volley into the far post. Her pirouette finish was simply world class. 

The 21-year-old attacker was again involved in Cameroon’s third goal in the final moments of first-half stoppage time. Ngah scored her second of the day after shaking off her defender and taking advantage of an empty net, as Sikelo had come far off her line and was left in no man’s land.

While this was Cameroon’s fourth trip to a WAFCON final, they had failed to find the back of the net in any of the previous three finals. But their three-goal burst across just 25 minutes assured that history would not repeat itself.

Malawi tried to kickstart a second-half comeback. Around the hour mark, Tabitha Chawinga forced a strong save from Michaely, and Temwa followed it up but watched her shot trickle just wide of the post. The Kansas City Current striker often found herself blanketed by two Cameroon defenders.

Malawi failed to provide reliable service to the front line. Midfielder Rose Kadzera was shown a red card in the semifinal against Algeria, forcing her to miss the final. In her place, 19-year-old Faith Chinzimu assumed central midfield responsibilities. While Chinzimu staved off a potential Cameroon goal in the 85th minute with a lunging tackle, Malawi struggled to provide sufficient service to its strikers.

Meanwhile, Cameroon’s midfield had a firm grasp on the game. Incoming Washington Spirit player Monique Ngock continued her stellar form. Her interceptions and defensive anticipation cut off would-be counterattacks from Malawi, while fellow defensive midfielder Achta Toko also put in an impressive shift with her recovery pace and blocks. The pair, alongside attacking midfielder Genevieve Ngo Mbeleck, continued to spring well-calibrated through balls into the feet of Cameroon’s forward line. 

Though Malawi came up short, they can leave the tournament with their heads held high. The WAFCON debutantes lived out Temwa Chawinga’s pre-tournament words when she told ESPN, “We’re not just going there to participate. We’re going there to compete.” Despite Sunday’s loss, they punched a ticket to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup and will debut on the world’s stage next summer.

It was a comprehensive and collective performance from Cameroon. Michaely deserves particular praise, with her heroics helping Cameroon defeat both 10-time WAFCON champions Nigeria and hosts Morocco in the knockout round. She made four penalty saves against Morocco across extra time and the shootout to send her squad to the final.

Cameroon’s victory was also made possible by the offensive brilliance of Player of the Match Ngah and Eto, who was superb throughout the final. Eto first made a name for herself at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, where she scored four goals in four games. Eto signed a two-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain in September 2025, and spent the 2025-26 season on loan at Italian side Sassuolo. At just 21, she now has another major tournament performance on her résumé and continues to be one of the emerging talents to watch in African women’s soccer.

Prior to the final, Eto praised her side’s collective belief. “Our greatest strength is the collective. Of course, we have talented players individually, but it is above all the group that is our strength.”

The unity of the team was exemplified throughout the tournament by its team huddle at the start, middle, and end of every match. 

Cameroon would make one last joint appearance together at the end of Sunday’s match. This time, they were there to collect their WAFCON winner’s medals for the very first time.

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