Gabrielle Aboudi Onguéné and Tabitha Chawinga will lead Cameroon and Malawi into a historic TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday, with one of the two captains set to lift the continental trophy for the first time.
The two teams will meet at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat, in an unprecedented final between nations yet to win the African women’s championship.
The stakes were symbolically captured during Saturday’s pre-final trophy photoshoot, when Onguéné and Chawinga stood together alongside the WAFCON trophy they will compete to lift at the end of Sunday’s encounter.
Despite the magnitude of the occasion, the meeting between the captains was characterised by friendship and mutual respect, offering a moment of calm before the tension of the final.
For Chawinga, the trophy represented both familiarity and a new sense of urgency.
The Malawi captain had previously been presented with an opportunity to see the trophy during its official presentation a year ago. But with Malawi now through to the final, the significance has changed completely.
The trophy is now within reach of Chawinga and her teammates, who are preparing to contest what would be the most important match in the history of Malawian women’s football.
A victory would give Malawi its first major continental women’s football title and establish the nation as the latest force to break into the elite of African women’s football.
Cameroon, meanwhile, will look to the experience of Onguéné as they attempt to reclaim their place at the top of the continental game.
The Cameroonian captain is one of the most recognisable figures of her generation and brings significant experience to a final that could provide another defining moment in her international career.
For Onguéné, lifting the trophy would represent more than personal achievement. It would symbolise Cameroon’s return to the pinnacle of African women’s football.
The final also guarantees a significant change in the competition’s historical roll of honour.
Nigeria have dominated the tournament with a record 10 titles, while Equatorial Guinea have won twice and South Africa claimed the championship in 2022. Cameroon and Malawi have yet to join that exclusive group.
That means Sunday’s final will inevitably produce a new name in the history books.
One captain will leave the Moulay El Hassan Stadium having secured a maiden continental crown for her country.
The other will have to settle for a historic campaign that came within one victory of glory.
But irrespective of the result, the Cameroon-Malawi final represents another significant milestone for the growth and competitive depth of African women’s football.