Wafcon 2026: Malawi faces Algeria as hosts Morocco meet Cameroon in semis

The semi-finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) will take place in Rabat on Wednesday, August 12, with Malawi looking to cause another major upset against Algeria, while hosts Morocco take on Cameroon in the other match.

Algeria and Malawi will face off at the Olympic Stadium at 8 pm Kenyan time, before Morocco meet Cameroon at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium at 11pm.

The winners of these two matches will play in Sunday’s final. The losing sides will contest the third-place play-off on Saturday.

The four semi-finalists have secured direct qualification for the 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

Wednesday’s match will mark the first meeting between Algeria and Malawi. Both teams have won four and lost one of their last five matches, setting up a balanced contest.

Algeria have the advantage, with the latest Fifa rankings placing them 74th in the world, 79 places above Malawi.

Malawi, who have defied the odds throughout their maiden Wafcon campaign, will once again look to forward Temwa Chawinga for inspiration.

The forward has scored four goals and provided two assists in four matches, putting her in a strong position to win the Golden Boot. She is one goal behind Zambia’s Barbra Banda, whose team was eliminated in the group stage.

The Scorchers arrived as the lowest-ranked team in the competition, but have emerged as one of the tournament’s biggest surprise packages.

Drawn in a tough Group C alongside Nigeria, Zambia and Egypt, Malawi faced three teams ranked significantly higher than them. Nigeria were ranked 36th, Zambia 65th, and Egypt 99th, compared to Malawi’s 153rd position.

Yet the Scorchers topped the group with six points to reach the knockout stage.

Coach Lovermore Fazili has played a key role in Malawi’s transformation, guiding them through their Wafcon debut and into the semi-finals, while also securing them a historic place at next year’s World Cup.

According to Fazili, the players understand the importance of the competition and are eager to give their supporters a reason to celebrate.

“My players are aware of what awaits us. Everyone back home is happy and looking forward to us achieving something else for them,” he said.

He expects Algeria to be hard to beat, but believes that Malawi have the experience to cope with a defensive opponent, having already overcome some of Africa’s strongest sides.

“They are a defensive team, but we will handle them in the same way that we handled the big teams, such as Nigeria and Zambia. The Chawinga sisters are stars, but the team comprises many players. You never know who will make the difference. We have prepared all the players and given them the confidence to deliver when they get the opportunity,” he said.

Fazili insists his side will approach the match with belief rather than fear. “We are taking this game seriously. We are not underdogs. We are going to fight for a positive result. We won’t underestimate Algeria, but we are going to fight until the end.”

Malawi can turn their attention to Wafcon final and hopefully cap their historic debut with a first continental final appearance, and potentially even a trophy win.

In the other semi-final, Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses will face Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses in what promises to be another thrilling match in Rabat.

Morocco will have the backing of a passionate home crowd.

They narrowly beat South Africa 2–1 in the quarter-final at the same venue on Sunday. A crowd of 19,112 was present at the 22,000-capacity stadium for that tie, and with the tournament now in its final stages, another large crowd is expected.

This is the third consecutive Wafcon that the hosts have reached the semi-finals of, and the Atlas Lionesses will now be looking to go one step further and claim their first major continental title.

The Indomitable Lionesses were among the four teams, alongside Egypt, Mali, and Côte d’Ivoire, that were reinstated to the tournament when it was expanded from 12 to 16 teams. All four had failed to qualify after being eliminated in the final round of qualifiers.

Cameroon are now the only one of those reinstated teams still standing. This unexpected success has given the Indomitable Lionesses a chance to reach the Wafcon final. However, Morocco coach Jorge Vilda believes the pressure will be on their opponents.

“We wanted to be in the final. That was the players’ dream, and it is a positive feeling, never a negative one,” said Vilda.

The Spaniard is confident that his players can overcome Cameroon. “Our only goal is to win,” added Vilda, who guided Spain’s women’s national team to their first World Cup victory in 2023.

• Algeria vs Malawi (Olympic Stadium, Rabat 8 pm Kenyan time)
• Morocco vs Cameroon (Moulay El Hassan Stadium, Rabat 11 pm Kenyan time)

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