Despite defeating champions Nigeria, Ghana and even Algeria to reach the final, the Scorchers suffered a 3-0 defeat against Cameroon at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat.
Marie Ngah scored twice, either side of Naomi Ndjoah Eto's goal, as the Indomitable Lionesses produced a devastating first-half display to finally end their long wait for continental glory.
Ngah opened the scoring in the 20th minute before Ndjoah Eto doubled the advantage 10 minutes later after being set up by Myriam Nyadjou.
Ngah then struck again three minutes into first-half stoppage time, this time from an assist by Eto, to effectively settle the contest before the interval.
‘I’m not very sad’
“Normally in football we expect those things to happen, you plan something positive, but maybe it comes out the opposite,” said Fazili, whose Malawi topped Group C on their way to reaching the knockout stage.
“Yes, Cameroon came and scored three goals in the first half, and in the second they did not score any goals.
“But all in all, I’m not very sad because this is football, and considering where we came from, I am happy with the performance, we have lost and it is gone.
“We have reached the final, and this is another token for us. So, we are not stopping here, whatever we have managed to achieve from the WAFCON, we are going to continue with our preparations.
“We have the World Cup ahead of us; we also have the Olympic Games ahead of us, so we are going to continue with our preparations, our training.
“I’m sure when we go to the World Cup, we will be a different team because we have gained experience through these matches.”
WAFCON 2026
The 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) took place from July 26th to August 16th in Morocco, across venues in Rabat and Casablanca. The continent's 16 best sides competed in groups of four before the knockout stages, with Cameroon beating Malawi in the final.
All you need to know about WAFCON | Group standings and knockout bracket | All the latest WAFCON news
‘It doesn’t matter we lost’
Speaking on behalf of Malawi players, Tabitha Chawinga, who scooped the Golden Boot award after notching five goals, said: “No one gave Malawi a chance to be in the final… but we made it to be in the final. And also, we qualified for the World Cup.
“The game was good, it was fantastic, and it doesn’t matter we lost, but the game was good. I want to congratulate Cameroon because they deserved to win it.
“You know it was the first time for Malawi in the tournament, and no one gave us a chance, even the journalists never gave us a chance, most of the people gave us only two percent to reach the final.
“But we managed to surprise everyone, we have learnt a lot of things from this tournament, and we need to go home and think about the next stage, World Cup and qualify for the Olympic Games, and we need to polish ourselves and do better.
“I know everyone at home is ready to welcome us; it doesn’t matter we finished in second position, but everyone is happy for us.”
Apart from losing the final, Malawi secured their place in the FIFA World Cup slated for Brazil.
Playing at the WAFCON for the first time, the Scorchers became the first Southern African debutants to reach the final and produced one of the tournament’s most entertaining campaigns.
