WAFCON Heartbreak for NSL Trio — But World Cup Hope Remains

By Nii Wallace-Bruce

A Difficult Night In Morocco

Two quarter-finals. Two defeats. Three Northern Super League players out of the WAFCON — but not yet out of the race for Brazil.

For Esther Okoronkwo and Nigeria, it was a single goal. For Evelyn Badu, Linda Owusu-Ansah and Ghana, it was a comeback that never came.

The 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations has delivered its final chapter for three Northern Super League players, and it was a tough Sunday all round.

Nigeria, the defending champions and Africa's most decorated women's national team, were beaten 1-0 by Cameroon. Ghana then suffered a 2-1 defeat against Malawi, the tournament debutants whose remarkable run continues to rewrite the history of the competition.

The results end the WAFCON campaigns of Okoronkwo, Badu and Owusu-Ansah. But they do not end their route to Brazil.

Not quite.

Nigeria Undone By One Moment

Nigeria entered the tournament carrying the weight that always accompanies the Super Falcons. Ten WAFCON titles. A history of dominance.
The expectation of another deep run.

Instead, their campaign has been a reminder that African women's football is changing — sometimes violently, and sometimes in a single evening.

Cameroon won 1-0, with Myriam Maéva Nyadjou Wamen scoring in the 19th minute. The Indomitable Lionesses then protected their advantage and sent Nigeria out. 

For Okoronkwo, the defeat closes a tournament in which the Super Falcons had already been forced to navigate uncomfortable territory.
She came on in the 62nd minute as Justine Madugu’s team tried to restore parity.
In the 2025 final, Okoronkwo provided two assists and a goal as Nigeria overcame Morocco 3-2. In 2026, that moment never came.

The Super Falcons had lost their opening match 3-2 to Malawi, the first WAFCON defeat ever suffered by Nigeria against a tournament debutant. They recovered.
They survived the group. They reached the knockout rounds. But the margin for error had narrowed. Against Cameroon, there was no recovery.

Months of preparation, years of expectation and an entire country's hopes can ultimately be separated by one goal.

Badu Leaves Her Mark, but Ghana Fall Short

Ghana's exit was different, but no less painful.

The Black Queens had entered the tournament with renewed ambition, and Badu had already provided one of the campaign's standout individual moments.

Against Mali in the group stage, the Montréal Roses midfielder opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time — a composed intervention from a player who has made a habit of arriving in dangerous areas at the right time. Ghana eventually drew 1-1. It was another reminder of why Badu arrived in the Northern Super League with such a reputation.

Before leaving Montréal for international duty, she had already scored four goals and supplied an assist in nine NSL appearances, including a hat-trick against Vancouver Rise FC. Her continental pedigree was hardly in doubt: she had won the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament awards at the inaugural CAF Women's Champions League in 2021. 

Similar to the Super Falcons, when Malawi was the opponent, football offered no reward for reputation.

Ghana struck first through Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah after seven minutes. Malawi answered through Temwa Chawinga five minutes later.

Then, with 11 minutes of normal time remaining, Rose Kadzere scored the winner. 2-1. The Scorchers — playing in their first WAFCON — had knocked Ghana out. 

Badu started the match, while Owusu-Ansah was among Ghana's substitutes. 

For Malawi, the victory was another extraordinary step in a tournament that has already seen them stun Nigeria and now eliminate Ghana.
They can dare to dream of winning WAFCON at the first attempt. Moreover, the world will get to see the Scorchers in action in Brazil in July 2027.

For Ghana, it was another example of the increasingly unforgiving landscape of African football.

Malawi had already shown Nigeria that their reputation meant little. Ghana became the next established side to discover the same thing.

The Northern Super League Connection

There is something fitting about these stories converging in Morocco.

The Northern Super League is still young, but its international footprint is already becoming harder to ignore.

Badu arrived in Montréal with continental honours and considerable expectations. Owusu-Ansah joined her in the Ghana squad having captained Ghana’s Black Princesses to qualification for the U-20 World Cup, CAF's provisional Ghana squad confirmed both players among the Black Queens' midfield options. 

Okoronkwo, meanwhile, carried a different kind of profile into the tournament: an established Nigerian international whose career has taken her through several football cultures before arriving in Canada's emerging professional women's league.

These are not players discovering international football for the first time.

They are players bringing international experience back into the NSL — and, when they return, they will bring something else with them. Perspective.

They have spent the summer in an environment where every match is carrying history, where tactical adjustments can determine an entire tournament, and where the gap between established powers and ambitious newcomers is becoming narrower. That experience matters.

And then there is Thursday. Nigeria and Ghana are out of the WAFCON proper. But neither country is out of the race for Brazil 2027.

The losing quarter-finalists are required to play two World Cup qualification play-offs on 13 August, with the winners earning Africa's two places in the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 Play-Off Tournament. 

And because Nigeria and Ghana were among the quarter-final losers, the Northern Super League connection has become particularly interesting.

Okoronkwo's Nigeria will face South Africa. Ghana’s Badu and Owusu-Ansah will face neighbouring Cote d’ivoire. One match. One winner. One more chance.

The winner does not qualify directly for the World Cup. Instead, it earns a place in FIFA's Play-Off Tournament, which will feature ten nations competing across two phases for the final three tickets to Brazil 2027. So the WAFCON has ended for these players. Their World Cup story has not. That is perhaps the most revealing thing about this WAFCON.

Malawi can beat Nigeria. Cameroon can eliminate Nigeria. A debutant can knock Ghana out.

It has also produced a curious footnote for Canada's Northern Super League. The league's representatives may have lost their quarter-finals.

But they have not yet lost their World Cup dream.

After Thursday, the NSL could have as many as three or even zero African representatives left vying for World Cup spots. Play-off tournaments are not for the faint of heart.
For AFC Toronto and Montréal Roses, there is at least one small consolation.
Their players are getting the kind of high-pressure knockout experience that cannot be replicated in training — and that experience will come back with them to the NSL.

For Okoronkwo, Badu and Owusu-Ansah, the WAFCON is over.

The road to Brazil is not.

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