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Super Falcons star Rinsola Babajide has congratulated the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon for claiming their first Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) title.
Cameroon cruised to a 3-0 victory over tournament debutants Malawi in Sunday’s final in Rabat.
Marie Ngah Manga’s close-range header put Cameroon 1-0 up in the 20th minute and Naomi Eto made it 2-0 with a stunning volley in the 30th minute.
Then in the third minute of first-half added time Cameroon got their third goal as Eto rounded Malawi goalkeeper Mercy Sikelo and put the ball on a plate for striker Ngah Manga to score her fifth goal at the finals.
Reacting to the win, Babajide wrote on her X handle:“Congrats to Cameroon for winning the WAFCON 👏🏾.”
Also Read: WAFCON 2026: Cameroon’s Ngock Wins Best Player Award, Chawinga Claims Golden Boot
Babajide featured in some of the Super Falcons games as they failed to defend their WAFCON title and also for the first time failed to qualify for the FIFA women’s World Cup.
Malawi, the lowest-ranked side at this year WAFCON at 153rd in the world, reached the final on the back of the attacking prowess of the Chawinga sisters Tabitha and Temwa.
However, the duo were well marshalled by the Cameroon defence, who ensured the Southern Africans were unable to secure a fairytale ending to their unexpected run at the tournament.
Meanwhile Cameroon, Malawi alongside hosts Morocco and Algeria have secured automatic qualification for the women’s World Cup.
South Africa and Ghana can also join the quartet at the World Cup via the Intercontinental playoffs.
By James Agberebi
5 Comments
Congratulations to Cameroun for their first WAFCON Trophy. They deserved the victory as they matched Malawi strength for strength, speed for speed and no room for them in middle to operate.
Unlike Nigeria in their match, where they were very sluggish.
Cameroun, AFRICA CHAMPION. GO make Africa proud in Brasil.
But Super Falcons still outplayed the Cameroonian lionesses in their quarter final match. Go and watch the match again in full in CAF TV or any other channel and check all the metrics/statistics for the match and you will see that bad luck and poor goalkeeping by Chiamaka Nnadozie in SF goal post cost Super Falcons of victory on addition to outstanding and inspired display by Cameroonian Golden Glove winner, Michaely Bihina, who stood singke-handedly to deny Nigeria a good win.
Nigeria SF had 19 shots at goal, 9 of which were on target compared to Cameroon lionesses 8 total shots, and only 2 on target- one of which resulted in the cheap goal Nnadozie conceded.
Nigeria Super Falcons are still the best African women’s team and just had a temporary blip where a combination bad preparations, Complacency and hardluck conspired to rob them from defending successfully the Wafcon title.
The Cameroonians were just more physical and better at bullying than the Malawian bullies in Tenwa and Tabitha Chawinga, otherwise they were both pretty ordinary or average teams in yesterday’s final.
However, congratulations to the Cameroonian for winning their 1st Wafcon trophy after many last misses at the finals, principally denied by the Super Falcons of Nigeria in three previous editions, the last being their painful defeat at home in the presence of their President, Paul Biya and their 1st lady, right there in Yaounde in 2016 Wafcon hosted by Cameroonian, winning goal scored by Desire Oparanozie!
But Super Falcons still outplayed the Cameroonian lionesses in their quarter final match. Go and watch the match again in full in CAF TV or any other channel and check all the metrics/statistics for the match and you will see that bad luck and poor goalkeeping by Chiamaka Nnadozie in SF goal post cost Super Falcons of victory on addition to outstanding and inspired display by Cameroonian Golden Glove winner, Michaely Bihina, who stood single-handedly to deny Nigeria a good win.
Nigeria SF had 19 shots at goal, 9 of which were on target compared to Cameroon lionesses 8 total shots, and only 2 on target- one of which resulted in the cheap goal Nnadozie conceded; SF had 60% Possession compared to Lionesses 40% possession- Ball in Cameroonian half nearly 80%; and SF had 5 Corner kicks to Cameroon’s only 2.
Nigeria Super Falcons are still the best African women’s team and just had a temporary blip where a combination of bad preparations, Complacency, and hardluck conspired to rob them from defending successfully the Wafcon title they won last year.
The Cameroonians were just more physical and better at bullying than the Malawian bullies in Tenwa and Tabitha Chawinga, otherwise they were both pretty ordinary or average teams in yesterday’s final- compared to the quality of last Wafcon final between Morocco and Nigeria, where the SF came from 2 goals down to claim a remarkable 3-2 victory to win the Wafcon trophy.
However, congratulations to the Cameroonian for winning their 1st Wafcon trophy after many last misses at the finals, principally denied by the Super Falcons of Nigeria in three previous editions, the last being their painful defeat at home in the presence of their President, Paul Biya and their 1st lady, right there in Yaounde in 2016 Wafcon hosted by Cameroonian, winning goal scored by Desire Oparanozie!
S. F dominated Cameroun in the quater finals but were unluck. That means we lost out on a world cup slot from the bench. People are blaming it on age but i dont think so. With all due respect to magdugu we need better coach. Our coaches dont wana improve them self once they arrive they become stagnated
One thing to understand about Cameroon. They highly value defensive talent.
For them, the good defender is as valuable, if not more valuable than the good forward. This is the polar opposite with Nigeria, where the forward, the goal scorer, gets most of the glory and recognition.
Cameroon know how to play defensive football, how to manage a game. They’ve been doing it for years. The ultimate example was when they beat an Argentina team led by Maradona in the opening game of the 1990 world cup. Argentina dominated that game from start to finish, but couldn’t break through the resolute Cameroon defense. In fact, Cameroon had 2 players sent off, and Argentina still could not take advantage. The Cameroonians knew that they could not match Argentina skill for skill, so they went full physical, bullying and harassing Argentina players. And it worked for them. They recorded one of the greatest upsets in world cup history that day.
Cameroon have collected 3 Afcon trophies at Nigeria’s expense. The only time they outplayed us was in 1984, when Theophile Abega and co ran riot to spank us 3-1. The other 2 times, 1988 and the painful 2000 defeat that reduced Sunday Oliseh to tears, Nigeria was the dominant team. We pressed, pushed, threw the kitchen sink at Cameroon, but their defense saved them. The 1988 final felt like a robbery, because Henry Nwosu’s goal, which seemed onside, was disallowed for reasons I still don’t understand. Then one of the most dubious penalties you will ever see was awarded to Cameroon, in response to Roger Milla’s spectacular dive. If VAR existed back then, Milla would have got booked for simulation. Having said all that, Cameroon’s defense was what won them the trophy in 1988 and 2000. When it comes down to defending and game management, they are a formidable opponent indeed.
Against Malawi, the Cameroon women applied the same principles that have worked so well for their men, and it landed them their first Wafcon trophy.