THE FALCONS FELL, AND MALAWI MADE HISTORY: WHAT WENT WRONG FOR NIGERIA AT WAFCON?

For a team that has won Africa’s biggest women’s football prize ten times, Nigeria were expected to make an entrance at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations with the confidence of champions. Instead, the Super Falcons walked into their opening match against Malawi and walked out with a result almost nobody saw coming.

Malawi 3, Nigeria 2.

Yes, you read that correctly. The reigning champions were beaten by a WAFCON debutant in a five-goal thriller that turned the script upside down. And perhaps the most painful part for Nigeria was how it happened.

For more than an hour, the Super Falcons held Malawi at bay. Then came the Chawinga sisters. Temwa Chawinga broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute before her sister, Tabitha Chawinga, doubled Malawi's advantage six minutes later. Suddenly, Nigeria were staring at a two-goal deficit with the clock running against them.

Rasheedat Ajibade pulled one back in the 92nd minute, giving Nigeria a lifeline. Uchenna Kanu then made it 3–2 in the ninth minute of added time. But there was no miracle this time. The comeback stopped there, and Malawi secured one of the biggest upsets in WAFCON history.

For Malawi, however, this was more than just three points. It was a statement. The team entered the tournament as debutants, placed in Group C alongside Nigeria, Zambia and Egypt. Nigeria, meanwhile, arrived as the defending champions after their extraordinary comeback against Morocco in the 2024 final, where they overturned a two-goal deficit to win 3–2 and claim a record-extending tenth title. That history made Nigeria the obvious favourite.

But football has never respected favourites.

Malawi did not come to Morocco simply to participate. They came with Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga — sisters whose names have become increasingly familiar in African women's football — and on Tuesday night, the pair gave Nigeria a painful reminder that reputation cannot win a match.

For the Super Falcons, the defeat is not the end of their title defence. But it is certainly a warning. Nigeria still have Zambia and Egypt to face in Group C, and with the top two teams advancing to the quarter-finals, there is still plenty of football left to play.

But one thing is already clear: the road to an eleventh WAFCON title just became much more interesting. And maybe that is what makes football so beautiful. One moment, you are the champions. The next, a debutant has turned your tournament upside down.

Nigeria will have to respond now, not with their reputation, but with their football.

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