Africa-Press. Cameroon has won the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations for the first time in its history, defeating Malawi 3-0 in the final match on Sunday evening.
The Cameroonian team accomplished the feat with three goals in the first half, including one from player Naomi Eto in the 30th minute, and a brace from Nja Menga in the 20th and 45+3 minutes of the match held at the Moulay Hassan Stadium in Rabat, Morocco.
Menga increased her tally to 5 goals. In the 94th minute, a fourth goal for Cameroon, scored by team captain Gabrielle Ongini, was disallowed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for offside.
This match was the third final between teams that had never previously won the title, following Nigeria’s victory over Ghana in 1998 and South Africa’s triumph over Morocco in 2022.
Cameroon became the fourth team to win the title, joining Nigeria, which has won it ten times, Equatorial Guinea with two titles, and South Africa, which won in 2022.
Additionally, Cameroon is now the third country to win the Africa Cup of Nations at both the men’s and women’s levels, following Nigeria and South Africa.
Having missed the previous edition, Cameroon defeated the host nation Morocco in the semifinals via penalties, while Malawi overcame Algeria 3-1, thanks to the impressive performances of the Chawinga sisters, Tabitha and Temwa, who contributed to 9 of Malawi’s 12 goals in the tournament.
With this victory, Cameroon broke its curse after losing three previous finals, all against Nigeria.
The Algerian team achieved its best result in history by securing the bronze medal and third place against Morocco via penalties, winning 3-2 after a 1-1 draw in the match.
The semifinalists in the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations have qualified for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, while Ghana and South Africa are still hopeful of qualifying for the World Cup through the continental playoff.
