Malawi and Cameroun will play in the final of this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) after they both won their semi-finals matches on Wednesday.
While it will be the first time Malawi are attempting to lift the coveted trophy, it will be the third time for Cameroun after they beat Algeria and Morocco respectively.
Malawi’s fairytale
Playing their WAFCON for the first time, the Scorchers of Malawi continued their fairytale run at this tournament with a 3-1 win against Algeria.
Inspired by their star players, the Chawinga Sisters, Temwa and Tabitha, the duo remained the inspiration as they either scored the goals their side needed to progress.
Malawi’s captain, Tabitha, who plays for French side, Lyonnais, scored a brace while her sister, Temwa provided the other goal to complete their progress into their final game at this tournament.
The exchanges in the early parts of the game was evenly matched as each side took turns to attempt at goal, but took a different direction when on the 23rd minute, Malawi were handed an advantage, as Algeria’s Morgane Belkkhter received the marching off orders from Nigeria referee,
Eunice Akintoye who with the help of VAR adjudged a tackle on Tabitha as a dangerous foul.
With their numerical strength, the Malawians used both that and their physical strength to advantage and took the lead on the 33rd minute through their captain.
USA’s Kansa City’s Temwa made it 2-0 in injury time of the first half but just before the referee would whistle for the break, she showed Rose Smith-Kadzere the red card also for stud stump on an Algerian player.
Back from the recess, Algeria made it count and got a goal back with Ikram Adjabi’s 60th minute strike, a goal that spurred her side on to push for more, but 17 minutes later, Tabitha put victory beyond doubt with her second and Malawi’s third on the night, further adding more lines to their historic debut at the WAFCON.
Penalties
Cameroun’s goalkeeper Michaely Bihina continued her heroics as she again her sterling performance and bravery handed her side victory and a place in the final, making three saves from penalty kicks in the game that they won 3-1 on penalties.
She was the wall that stood prevented Morocco from winning on the night, making a number of saves, including an 118th minute penalty saved by Bihina.
The Benfica goalkeeper would go on to save three more kicks as her side converted theirs kicks to send them to their fourth WAFCON final, denying hosts, Morocco their third successive final berth.
For Morocco, it was yet another disappointing end, denied the opportunity to win their first WAFCON title after three successive attempts in the all three competitions they have hosted, finishing second in 2022 and 2024 but their loss meaning they will now have to fight for bronze.
