Malawi produced the standout result of the tournament on Wednesday, beating Algeria 3-1 in Rabat to become the first Women’s Africa Cup of Nations debutant to reach a final since Zimbabwe in 2000.
The match turned on two red cards inside the first half. Algeria were reduced to ten players before the 30-minute mark when defender Morgane Belkhiter was dismissed following a VAR review for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Malawi took the lead soon after through an acrobatic overhead kick that struck the crossbar before dropping over the line, then doubled their advantage in first-half stoppage time.
Moments later, Malawi themselves went down to ten men when a defender picked up a second yellow card after a lengthy VAR check for a studs-up challenge, leaving both sides to play out the second half a man short apiece.
Algeria pulled a goal back through Ikram Adjabi after the restart, but Malawi restored their two-goal cushion soon after and held on to close out the win. Nigerian referee Yemisi Akintoye, taking charge of her second match at these finals, oversaw a game defined as much by its officiating drama as its football.
The result extends one of the tournament’s biggest storylines: Malawi, the lowest-ranked side still competing in Morocco, have now eliminated three established football nations Nigeria, Ghana, and Algeria on their way to a maiden WAFCON final.
For Algeria, the defeat brings an otherwise successful tournament to a close. They reached their first WAFCON semi-final and secured qualification for their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup, which they’ll contest in Brazil the same country where the Algerian men’s team made their own World Cup debut in 2014.
Malawi will now prepare for Sunday’s final, aiming to complete an unlikely run that has already reshaped expectations for what a first-time competitor can achieve on the continent’s biggest stage.
