Falcons Survive Group C Chaos To Set Up Cameroon Quarter-Final
Three converted penalties, six goals and a night of nervous arithmetic in Rabat have kept Nigeria’s title defence alive at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, with the Super Falcons beating Egypt 6-2 on Wednesday to finish second in Group C and set up a quarter-final against Cameroon.
The result closed one of the most tightly contested group phases in the competition’s history. Nigeria, Malawi and Zambia all finished on six points, forcing the Confederation of African Football to apply its tie-break criteria. According to the breakdown of the standings, the three sides were level again on points from matches among themselves, and level once more on goal difference at zero apiece. Separation came only at the third criterion, goals scored in the mini league among the tied teams, where Malawi finished with four, Nigeria with three and Zambia with two. Malawi therefore topped the group in their debut appearance, Nigeria advanced in second, and Zambia went out despite winning two of their three matches.
Egypt finished bottom without a point, having conceded 15 goals across the group stage while scoring three, following a 6-0 loss to Zambia and a 3-1 defeat by Malawi before Wednesday’s result.
Nigeria opened the scoring in the 21st minute through Asisat Oshoala from the penalty spot, awarded after a Video Assistant Referee review for handball inside the Egyptian area. It was the six time African Women’s Footballer of the Year’s second goal in as many matches, having also scored the only goal in Nigeria’s 1-0 win over Zambia.
Substitute Gift Monday doubled the lead in first half stoppage time after being set up by Rinsola Babajide, before Nadine Ghazi pulled one back for Egypt from the spot deep in added time, sending the sides in at 2-1.
Uchenna Kanu, another substitute, restored the two goal cushion in the 57th minute. Christy Ucheibe then converted a further VAR awarded penalty, and after Ghazi struck a second for Egypt, captain Rasheedat Ajibade added Nigeria’s third penalty of the night. Joy Omewa completed the scoring in stoppage time with her first goal at a WAFCON finals. The referee pointed to the spot four times in the match, all following VAR intervention. Channels Television’s live match data put Nigeria’s possession at 59 per cent against Egypt’s 41 per cent. Michelle Alozie and Kanu were booked for Nigeria, while Egypt’s Essam H., Menna Tarek and Nour Abdelwahed, as well as head coach Mohamed Kamal, were also cautioned. Goal timings for the later strikes differed slightly across match reports, and the exact minutes remain inconsistent in circulating accounts.
The victory came after a start that unsettled the reigning champions. Nigeria lost their opening fixture 3-2 to tournament debutants Malawi on 28 July, a result widely reported as the first time the Super Falcons had conceded three goals in a WAFCON match. They recovered with a 1-0 win over Zambia, played for much of the second half with ten players after Oluwatosin Demehin was sent off for a foul on Barbra Banda.
Both Demehin and Paris Saint Germain midfielder Jennifer Echegini missed the Egypt game through suspension, Echegini for accumulated yellow cards. Speaking at his pre match press conference on Tuesday, head coach Justine Madugu said the team had studied every route to qualification. “We have done all the various permutations of what can get us through, and we know exactly which of the permutations can take us through. We want to have our fate in our hands and not leave it for anybody to decide for us,” he said. He added, “No team prepares to lose a game. All we are going out for is to win the game and get a result that will qualify us to the next stage of the competition.”
Veteran defender Osinachi Ohale framed the fixture in similar terms, saying, “The match against Egypt is even more important than our first two games. We know what is at stake, and we will approach it with greater seriousness than we did against Zambia.”
Nigeria remain the most decorated side in the competition’s history with 10 titles, won in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2024, from 10 finals contested and none lost. Their most recent crown came through a comeback from two goals down to beat hosts Morocco 3-2 in the final of the 2024 edition, which was played in Morocco in July 2025 after rescheduling. The 2026 tournament, staged from 25 July to 16 August, is the first to feature 16 teams, up from 12, divided into four groups of four.
Nigeria now face Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses, who reached the knockout stage as Group D leaders after a 2-1 win over Mali and a 1-0 defeat of Ghana, with Marie Gisele Ngah Manga scoring all three of their goals to that point, including two penalties awarded after VAR reviews.
The fixture carries history on both sides. Nigeria beat Cameroon 6-0 in Kaduna in 1998 and 5-0 in the 2004 final, a match in which Perpetua Nkwocha scored four times, still the only four goal haul in a WAFCON final. Cameroon have finished runners up three times, in 2004, 2014 and 2016, and missed the previous edition entirely.
More recent form offers a warning. Cameroon beat Nigeria 1-0 in a friendly in Yaoundé on 28 February 2026 through a stoppage time goal, ending a run of nearly four years in which the Super Falcons had not lost to African opposition. Reports at the time noted it was only Cameroon’s fourth win in 14 meetings between the sides and their first since 2015.
Beyond the continental trophy, the tournament doubles as Africa’s qualifying route to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, with the four semi-finalists earning direct qualification. That places an unusually heavy weight on the quarter-finals, scheduled for 8 and 9 August, with the semi-finals set for 12 August, the third place match on 15 August and the final on 16 August in Rabat.
Morocco will face South Africa and Côte d’Ivoire will meet Algeria in the other confirmed quarter-finals, while Malawi await the second qualifier from Group D.