Nigeria lose 3 awards to Benfica, Fenerbahçe & Washington Spirit stars

Nigeria's Super Falcons have lost three of the main individual awards at the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations after Cameroon produced a clean sweep in the key categories, Soccernet.ng reports.

Cameroon's Marie Gisèle Ngah Manga, Michaely Bihina and Monique Ngock took the Player of the Final, Best Goalkeeper and Player of the Tournament awards respectively.

The result is a sharp change from the previous WAFCON, when Nigeria's players collected those three major individual prizes and the Super Falcons won the title.

Nigeria had won the 2024 WAFCON, which was played in Morocco from 5 to 26 July 2025 after a delay. The Super Falcons came from 2-0 down at half-time to beat hosts Morocco 3-2 in Rabat and win a record-extending 10th African title. Rasheedat Ajibade was named Player of the Tournament, while Chiamaka Nnadozie won Best Goalkeeper. AFC Toronto forward Esther Okoronkwo took home the Player of the Final award scoring once and adding two assists against Morocco in the title decider.

Nigeria's Super Falcons lifted the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations. Photo by Mansa Ayoola Copyright: IMAGO

The 2026 tournament brought a very different ending. Cameroon, who had been brought back into the competition after initially missing out through qualification, went all the way to the final and beat debutants Malawi to claim their first WAFCON title. Nigeria's Super Falcons, however, missed out on qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in history.

WAFCON: Nigeria out as Cameroon stars take over

Ngah Manga shared the Golden Boot award with the trio of Cote d'Ivoire's Inès Konan, Malawi's Temwa Chaŵinga and Zambia's Barbra Banda, all four finished the tournament with five goals.

Fenerbahçe forward Ngah Manga was also named the Player of the Final. She had already built a strong scoring record in Turkey before the tournament. She scored twice in Cameroon's 2-1 opening win over Mali, including the winner from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute after a VAR review.

She then scored again in the 1-0 win over Ghana on 2 August and added two more goals against Malawi in the final on 16 August. That gave the Cameroon forward a leading role in the team's historic title run.

Nigeria Super Falcons goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie. Photo Credit: Chiamaka Nnadozie/X

Bihina provided the other key piece of Cameroon's success. The 22-year-old goalkeeper joined Benfica in January 2026 on a contract that runs until 2029. She had previously spent three-and-a-half seasons with Racing Power in Portugal.

Her biggest moment came in the semi-final against Morocco. Bihina saved four penalties as Cameroon won the shootout and reached the final. In the final against Malawi, she also made important saves as Cameroon protected its lead against the Chawinga sisters. Her performances earned her the Best Goalkeeper award.

Ngock completed Cameroon's sweep. The midfielder had joined Washington Spirit after helping Fleury 91 finish fifth in France's top division in the 2025-26 season. FIFA described her as one of Cameroon's leading players before the tournament, after she had returned to the WAFCON following Cameroon's absence from the previous edition.

Ngock was 17 when she played at the 2022 WAFCON. Cameroon lost 1-0 to Nigeria in the quarter-finals that year. Four years later, she helped Cameroon turn that history around by beating the defending champions in the 2026 quarter-final.