Cameroon Crush Malawi 3-0 to Win Historic First WAFCON Crown
Cameroon waited decades for this night. Then they needed barely one half to tear the final away from Malawi.
The Indomitable Lionesses are African champions for the first time after a ruthless 3-0 victory over Malawi in Sunday’s 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat.
Marie Ngah scored twice and Naomi Ndjoah Eto added another as Cameroon converted three first-half strikes into the biggest night in their WAFCON history.
For a country that had reached three previous finals and lost all three — to Nigeria in 2004, 2014 and 2016 — the breakthrough was emphatic. Cameroon became only the fourth nation to win the continental title after Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa.
Ngah breaks the final open
Malawi arrived carrying one of the tournament’s most dangerous attacking records, but Cameroon seized control before the Scorchers could impose themselves.
Ngah struck in the 20th minute. Ten minutes later, Myriam Nyadjou created the opening for Ndjoah Eto to make it 2-0.
Cameroon then landed the blow that effectively killed the contest when Ndjoah Eto turned provider and Ngah scored again in first-half stoppage time.
Three goals. One half. Malawi’s fairytale had suddenly run into a wall.
The Scorchers had entered the final with 12 goals, the highest total in the tournament, while Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga had carried much of that attacking threat.
Cameroon, by contrast, had built their knockout run around defensive control.
The final exposed which identity could survive championship pressure.
How Cameroon broke Malawi
The first goal changed the problem
Malawi’s tournament had been built around attacking threat and the ability of the Chawinga sisters to stretch opponents.
Once Ngah put Cameroon ahead after 20 minutes, the Scorchers were forced to chase a final against one of the competition’s most disciplined defensive teams.
That changed the game.
Cameroon no longer needed an open contest. They could protect their structure while Malawi increasingly had to take risks.
Cameroon attacked the moments
The decisive sequence was brutal:
20th minute.
30th minute.
45+3.
Cameroon did not merely establish control. They converted it into scoreboard damage before Malawi could reset.
By half-time, the final had become a three-goal recovery mission.
That game state played directly into Cameroon’s hands. Malawi needed urgency. Cameroon could manage territory, risk and tempo.
The title was being decided not only by possession or attacking ambition, but by who handled decisive moments better.
Cameroon won that battle before the interval.
Bihina built the foundation
The final will carry Ngah’s name, but Cameroon’s championship run was constructed from the back.
Goalkeeper Michaely Bihina had already been decisive before the final.
She made nine saves as Cameroon eliminated defending champions Nigeria 1-0 in the quarter-finals, then helped the Indomitable Lionesses survive Morocco in the semi-finals before their penalty-shootout victory.
Against Malawi, she completed another clean sheet and finished the tournament with the WAFCON Golden Glove.
Across the quarter-final, semi-final and final, Cameroon did not concede a goal.
That was the championship spine:
Survive Nigeria.
Survive Morocco.
Punish Malawi.
Malawi’s biggest weapon was neutralised
Malawi entered the final as the tournament’s leading scorers.
Temwa Chawinga had already established herself as one of WAFCON’s most dangerous attackers, while she and Tabitha Chawinga accounted for a huge share of Malawi’s offensive production.
But the three-goal first-half deficit changed the conditions completely.
Malawi were no longer attacking a level contest. They were trying to break down a Cameroon side that could defend with a commanding lead.
That does not erase Malawi’s extraordinary tournament.
The Scorchers reached the WAFCON final on debut and forced themselves into the centre of African women’s football.
But the final belonged to Cameroon.
From Nigeria heartbreak to continental champions
There is another layer to Cameroon’s run that will not be lost on Nigerian audiences.
The Indomitable Lionesses eliminated 10-time champions Nigeria 1-0 in the quarter-finals, survived hosts Morocco on penalties and then shut out Malawi in the final.
Their entire knockout run ended without a goal conceded.
That sequence did more than win a trophy.
Cameroon removed the reigning champions, survived the host nation and stopped the tournament’s most prolific attack.
They entered Rabat carrying the weight of three lost WAFCON finals.
They left with the trophy.
Marie Ngah delivered the goals that ended the wait.
Cameroon’s defence made sure history could not escape.
