By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: CAF.
Cameroon won the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) for the first time after a commanding 3-0 victory over debutants Malawi in Sunday’s final at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat.
Marie Ngah scored twice, either side of Naomi Ndjoah Eto’s goal, as the Indomitable Lionesses produced a devastating first-half display to finally end their long wait for continental glory.
Ngah opened the scoring in the 20th minute before Ndjoah Eto doubled the advantage 10 minutes later after being set up by Myriam Nyadjou.
Ngah then struck again three minutes into first-half stoppage time, this time from an assist by Ndjoah Eto, to effectively settle the contest before the interval.
Cameroon’s triumph is all the more remarkable given the Indomitable Lionesses missed the 2024 edition of Wafcon and failed to qualify for these finals, losing 3-1 on aggregate to Algeria in their second round tie.
However, the Central Africans advanced to the tournament on the strength of their world ranking after the Confederation of African Football (Caf) expanded the finals from 12 to 16 teams.
FIfa president Gianni Infantino was on stand-by to present the trophy alongside Caf counterpart Patrice Motsepe and Cameroon, who previously lost three Wafcon finals, also pick up $2m in prize money as they become just the fourth side to win the title after Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa.
Cameroon and Malawi will feature at the 2027 Women’s Fifa World Cup in Brazil alongside fellow Wafcon semi-finalists Algeria and Morocco.
“We are very happy,” Ngah Manga said on E4. We have been working so hard over all these years to get here. To finally be champions we are very proud.”