The match, played before a boisterous home crowd, was anything but routine. Morocco had raced to a commanding 2-0 lead inside the first 25 minutes, threatening to end Nigeria’s continental dominance. But the West Africans regrouped, recalibrated, and produced a stunning second-half response, capped by an 88th-minute winner from substitute Jennifer Echegini.
For the Moroccans, it was a second consecutive final heartbreak, despite the electric atmosphere generated by over 21,000 fans in the capital. They had looked set to avenge their 2022 final loss and become champions on home soil after Ghizlane Chebbak and Sanaa Mssoudy struck early. Chebbak opened the scoring with a superb strike from outside the area following a defensive lapse, before Mssoudy doubled the lead with a composed finish after a swift attacking move.
Despite enjoying more possession in the first half, Nigeria struggled to convert pressure into goals and went into the break trailing. However, the tide began to turn after the hour mark.
Esther Okoronkwo sparked the comeback in the 64th minute, converting a penalty after a VAR review ruled that Folashade Ijamilusi’s cross had struck the hand of Moroccan defender Nouhaila Benzina. Seven minutes later, Okoronkwo turned provider, cutting the ball back for Ijamilusi to tap home the equaliser and silence the previously raucous crowd.
With momentum on their side, Nigeria kept pushing, and their persistence paid off just two minutes from time. A well-delivered Okoronkwo free-kick met the run of Echegini, who volleyed home to complete the turnaround and seal Nigeria’s place once again at the summit of African women’s football.
Meanwhile, in the third-place playoff held in Casablanca, Ghana’s Black Queens claimed bronze with a dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout victory over South Africa, following a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
South Africa had taken the lead at the stroke of halftime after a costly error from Ghanaian goalkeeper Cynthia Konlan gifted Nonhlanhla Mthandi a simple finish. But Ghana struck back in the second half, when a header from Alice Kusi rebounded off the crossbar before ricocheting in off goalkeeper Andile Dlamini for an own goal.
The penalty shootout saw South Africa falter with two weak efforts saved, and 19-year-old Nancy Amoh converted the decisive spot-kick to hand Ghana a deserved victory. The result marked Ghana’s fourth win in four third-place playoff appearances, while South Africa extended their poor record in bronze medal matches, losing for the fourth time in five such encounters.
As the dust settles on a riveting 2025 WAFCON, attention now shifts to the 2026 edition – also to be hosted in Morocco – which will double as the African qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
For Nigeria, this title reinforces their dominance and sets the tone for the next chapter. For others, especially Morocco and Ghana, the tournament revealed progress and promise, but also the thin margins that separate triumph from heartbreak in African women’s football.