Cameroon have finally reached the summit of African women’s football. After more than two decades chasing the title and losing three finals, the Indomitable Lionesses defeated Malawi 3-0.

In a final that was virtually decided before halftime, Marie Ngah scored a brace and Naomi Ndjoah Eto completed the rout to give Cameroon a historic night at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium.

The victory made Cameroon just the fourth different nation to win the WAFCON, after Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa.

Ngah breaks the deadlock as Cameroon take control

Malawi arrived in the final looking to complete an extraordinary campaign in their first appearance at the tournament, but Cameroon did not take long to impose themselves.

After an intense start, Marie Ngah opened the scoring in the 20th minute and completely changed the outlook for a Scorchers side that had built much of its success during the tournament around its attacking strength.

Another blow followed just ten minutes later.

Myriam Nyadjou set up Naomi Ndjoah Eto, who made it 2-0 in the 30th minute, bringing the Indomitable Lionesses ever closer to the title that had escaped them so many times before.

A third blow before halftime

In the 45+3rd minute, Ndjoah Eto went from goalscorer to provider, finding Ngah, who struck again for her second goal of the night to make it 3-0 before halftime.

The brace made Ngah the standout performer of an almost perfect first half for Cameroon, while Naomi Eto ended her attacking contribution with one goal and one assist.

Fourth time finally proves to be the charm

Cameroon had previously reached the finals in 2004, 2014 and 2016, losing all three to Nigeria and failing to score in any of those title matches. Against Malawi, the Indomitable Lionesses brought that history to an end in the most emphatic way possible.

Their road to the championship was even more remarkable because Cameroon had initially failed to qualify for the tournament and only entered after the competition was expanded to 16 teams.

From there, they made the most of the opportunity: they beat Ghana in the group stage, eliminated 10-time champions Nigeria 1-0 in the quarterfinals, and defeated hosts Morocco on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the semifinals.

Malawi end a historic campaign in defeat

The night ended in disappointment for Malawi, but it does not erase what they achieved in their first appearance at the tournament.

The Scorchers became the first Southern African debutants to reach a WAFCON final and advanced to the title match after beating Algeria 3-1 in the semifinals while producing one of the tournament’s most impressive attacking campaigns.

Their dream came to an end against Cameroon’s experience, defensive organization and clinical finishing.

Ten years after losing at home in the 2016 final and more than two decades after reaching a title match for the first time, the Indomitable Lionesses can finally call themselves champions of Africa.