- Safiu Kehinde
The Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon has caused Morocco another major upset as they defeated the Atlas Lionesses on penalty to book a seal the last spot in the final showdown of the 2026 Women’s African Cup of Nations.
Cameroon defeated the host nation 3-1 on penalties after the match ended goalless following extra time.
The Indomitable Lionesses would however have their goalkeeper, Michaely Bihina, to thank for the feat.
Coming off her heroic performances that saw Cameroon defeat the defending champions, Super Falcons of Nigeria, in the quarterfinals, Bihina again rose to the occasion at the semi-finals to dent Morocco’s hope of winning their first ever continental title having lost to Nigeria in the last edition.
All odds appeared to be against Cameroon as Morocco had a controversial penalty awarded to them two minutes before the end of extra-time after a VAR review.
Unfortunately for the host nation, Fatima Tagnaout had her effort saved by Bihina, forcing the match to penalty shootout.
Bihina went on to save three more spot kicks in the shootout before teenager Myriam Nyadjou coolly converted the winning penalty to send her country through to the final.
In other match, Malawi, competing at the finals for the first time, continued their giant-killing run as they beat Algeria 3-1 to book a place in the final against Cameroon.
Malawi beat defending champions Nigeria in their opening group fixture before edging more fancied rivals Ghana in the quarterfinals.
According to Reuters, Malawi’s heroics continued on Wednesday with Chawinga sisters, Tabitha (2) and Temwa, netting the goals in the semi-final triumph with Ikram Adjabi getting Algeria’s consolation.
The final on Sunday in Rabat will crown a new African champion with all past continental tournaments having been won by either Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria or South Africa.