Cameroon crowned champions as Indomitable Lionesses end decades of heartbreak

Cameroon are champions of Africa for the first time after a dominant 3-0 victory over debutants Malawi in Sunday’s WAFCON final at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat.

The contest was effectively settled inside the first half, as the Indomitable Lionesses scored all three goals before the break to end Malawi’s remarkable debut campaign.

Marie Ngah opened the scoring in the 20th minute, converting from close range after a header struck the crossbar, before doubling her tally with another goal in first-half stoppage time.

Sandwiched between her brace, Naomi Eto struck in the 29th minute to make it 3-0, finishing with an inventive scissor kick.

The result brought an emphatic end to a long wait for Cameroon, who had lost all three of their previous WAFCON final appearances in 2004, 2014, and 2016, each time to Nigeria.

They became the fourth different nation to win the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, joining record champions Nigeria, two-time winners Equatorial Guinea, and 2022 champions South Africa.

Their triumph is made even more remarkable by how the campaign began: Cameroon originally failed to qualify for the tournament after a defeat to Algeria, only earning a place when CAF expanded the finals to 16 teams.

From there they went on to eliminate 10-time champions Nigeria in the quarter-finals and hosts Morocco on penalties in the semi-finals, before completing the run in the final.

For Malawi, ranked 153rd in the world, the defeat could not erase an extraordinary tournament. Inspired by sisters Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga, who scored nine of the team’s goals across the competition, the Scorchers became the first Southern African debutants to reach a WAFCON final, having stunned Nigeria and Ghana en route to the showpiece.

They pushed for a way back into the game after halftime. Still, Cameroon’s defence, marshalled by goalkeeper Michaely Bihina, who claimed another clean sheet, held firm to secure a historic night for Cameroonian football.

Cameroon became the third nation on the continent whose men’s and women’s senior national teams have won the Africa Cup of Nations.