By Dorcas Francis Koji
A new champion will be crowned at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco after defending champions Nigeria and 2022 winners South Africa were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Nigeria, the most successful team in the history of the competition, saw their title defence come to an end on Sunday after Cameroon secured a narrow 1-0 victory over the Super Falcons.
Myriam Wam’s stunning 19th-minute free-kick proved decisive as the Indomitable Lionesses held on to eliminate the 10-time African champions and secure their place in the semi-finals.
The result marked Cameroon’s second victory over Nigeria at the WAFCON and delivered a major blow to the Falcons, who have dominated the continental competition for decades.
A day earlier, hosts Morocco also ended South Africa’s campaign with a 2-1 victory in Rabat. The result sent the Atlas Lionesses into the last four and secured their qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
South Africa won the 2022 edition before Nigeria reclaimed the continental crown at the 2024 WAFCON, which was staged in 2025.
With Equatorial Guinea, the only other nation to have won the tournament, failing to qualify since 2018, the 2026 edition will feature a semi-final line-up without a former champion for the first time in the competition’s history.
Nigeria remain the undisputed record holders, having won 10 of the previous 13 editions.
The Super Falcons dominated the early years of the competition, winning the first five editions between 1998 and 2006 before Equatorial Guinea ended their reign in 2008.
Nigeria reclaimed the trophy in 2010 but surrendered it to Equatorial Guinea again in 2012.
The West Africans subsequently embarked on another dominant run, winning three consecutive titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
South Africa eventually broke Nigeria’s grip on the trophy by winning the 2022 edition, but the Falcons responded by reclaiming the crown at the 2024 tournament, staged in 2025.
Nigeria came from behind to defeat hosts Morocco in the final and secure their record-extending 10th continental title.
With both Nigeria and South Africa now out, hosts Morocco have emerged as one of the leading contenders for the trophy, which would be their first WAFCON title.
Algeria and Cameroon are also through to the semi-finals, while the final spot will be decided between Ghana and Malawi.
The four semi-finalists will automatically qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
The four teams eliminated in the quarter-finals, meanwhile, will enter a play-off tournament, with two places in the inter-confederation World Cup play-offs at stake.
Nigeria and South Africa will therefore meet again on Thursday in Casablanca, with both nations fighting for one of the remaining routes to the 2027 World Cup.
Leave a comment