This week on The IX Sports Podcast Soccer Edition, host Kathleen Gier is joined again by Jacob Mitchell and Kofi to recap the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, or WAFCON.
The trio talks through the three biggest storylines from the competition: Cameroon defeating Malawi in the final, Temwa Chawinga winning the Golden Boot, and perennial powerhouse Nigeria failing to qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Cameroon wins WAFCON
Cameroon defeated Malawi 3-0 in the WAFCON Final.
“Three to zero is a really impressive score, and Cameron’s coach, Valentine Nguele … is clearly far and away the coach of the tournament,” Mitchell said. “Her adjustments, her tactical structure beats anything else that any other coach put out, and that’s evidenced in the results. Lest we forget, Cameroon initially didn’t even qualify For WAFCON.”
That’s true — Cameroon was only added to the field when the Confederation of African Football expanded the field from 12 to 16 teams. Plus, Nugele was hired just six weeks prior to the tournament.
Despite the loss, Kofi said, Malawi was still incredibly dominant across the tournament, with Tema Chawinga, their top forward, winning the Golden Boot.
“Malawi scored 12 goals at WAFCON. 12 goals is a lot of goals, right? Tema Chawinga scored five of those goals. Tabitha Chawinga scored four of those goals. So nine of all of their 12 goals scored in the entire competition were scored by two players,” Kofi explained.
World Cup qualifiers
Cameroon, Morocco, Algeria and Malawi all automatically qualified for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. South Africa and Ghana advanced to intercontinental playoffs and also have the chance to qualify.
Notably, Nigeria, which was qualified for every World Cup since 1991, failed to qualify for next year’s competition.
Tune in to the episode to hear Kofi, Mitchell and Gier break down their picks for an All-WAFCON team, and break down South Africa and Ghana’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup!
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