Cameroon's historic Wafcon double

The historic double

Cameroon's men won the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil back in 1984 and 1988. The women's team have now added their own chapter, making Cameroon only the fourth nation to lift the Wafcon trophy and one of a tiny group of countries to hold both continental crowns at the same time. That is not a footnote. It is a proper landmark for African women's football, and it arrived with a 3-0 scoreline that left no room for argument.

Monique Ngock was the player who caught the eye throughout the tournament. She was the kind of performer who makes a competition feel like it belongs to her, and by the time the final arrived, Cameroon looked like a team built around her momentum. The Guardian's review singles her out as the standout of the whole tournament, and it is hard to argue with that reading.

Malawi's fairytale run

The bigger surprise of Wafcon 2026 was not who won it. It was who Cameroon had to beat to win it. Malawi reaching the final was one of the tournament's genuine shocks, a run that gave the competition a storyline nobody had scripted. They were beaten 3-0 in the end, but the fact they were there at all says something real about how the gap is closing across African women's football.

Nigeria's poor showing

At the other end of the narrative sits Nigeria. Historically the dominant force in this competition, the Super Falcons had a tournament to forget, according to The Guardian's review. The details of their exit are still being pieced together, but the broad picture is clear enough: a team expected to challenge for the title went home early and left a gap that Cameroon were more than ready to fill.

The crowd problem

One shadow over the whole tournament: attendance figures were a disappointment. Women's football in Africa deserves bigger crowds than Wafcon 2026 managed to pull in, and that is a conversation the confederation will need to have before the next edition. The football, at its best, earned a bigger audience than it got.