Malawi wrote a new page in their football history on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, beating Algeria 3 to 1 in the semifinal of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, held in Morocco, to secure their first ever appearance in a continental final, and doing so on their tournament debut.
The match swung in Malawi’s favor early. Algeria were reduced to ten players before halftime after Morgane Belkhiter was sent off, a turning point that shaped the rest of the game. The Chawinga sisters carried their team from there. Tabitha Chawinga opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with an acrobatic finish off the crossbar, before her sister Temwa doubled the lead right before the break, in the 45th minute, rounding the Algerian goalkeeper before slotting home. Algeria pulled one back through Ikram Adjabi in the 60th minute, volleying in a loose ball to briefly revive hope, but Tabitha Chawinga sealed Malawi’s place in the final in the 72nd minute with a left footed strike, completing her brace and bringing the sisters’ combined tally to all three of Malawi’s goals in the match.
The achievement is all the more remarkable given that Malawi entered the tournament as one of its lowest ranked sides. Knocking out Algeria, one of the more experienced nations in African women’s football, to reach a final on a debut continental campaign is a genuine underdog story.
In the final, Malawi will face Cameroon, who advanced through an entirely different kind of drama against tournament hosts Morocco. After a scoreless draw through regulation and extra time, capped by a missed penalty from Morocco’s Fatima Tagnaout in the 118th minute, Cameroon won the shootout 3 to 1, claiming their first ever penalty shootout victory at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations after three previous losses in that exact situation. Cameroon, a former powerhouse of the African women’s game, will be looking to reclaim their place at the top, against a Malawi side that, for its part, has nothing left to lose.