MATCH STATS: Malawi face Algeria in TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON Morocco 2026 semi-final

Malawi and Algeria clash in the semi-finals of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026 at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat on Wednesday, 12 August, with kick-off at 18h00 local time (17h00 GMT).

MATCH FACTS

• This will be the first meeting between Malawi and Algeria at the WAFCON.
• Malawi will play their fifth game of the current finals in Rabat. Three of their first four matches were at Al Madina Stadium, against Nigeria, Zambia and Ghana, while they faced Egypt at Moulay El Hassan Stadium. The semi-final at the Olympic Stadium will therefore be their third different venue in the city.
• This will be Algeria’s third match at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat. They defeated Senegal and Kenya 2-0 there in their first and third group matches respectively. 
• Algeria return to Rabat after playing their quarter-final against Côte d’Ivoire at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Casablanca, where they won 2-1. 
• With the other two semi-finalists, Morocco and Cameroon, having previously reached WAFCON finals, the winner of this tie will become the seventh different nation to reach the final since the first tournament under the current format in 1998.
• The six previous finalists since 1998 are Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Morocco. 
• None of the four remaining teams have previously won the WAFCON. The tournament will therefore have a first-time champion for the second time in three editions, after South Africa claimed their maiden title in 2022. Nigeria won the 2024 edition. 
• The 2026 champions will become only the fourth nation to lift the trophy since 1998, after Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa.
• This will be Algeria’s second WAFCON game against tournament debutants. Their previous such meeting was against Equatorial Guinea in their final group match in 2006, which ended 3-3. Algeria led 2-0 before eventually being held to a draw. 
• This will be Algeria’s fourth WAFCON game against a Southern African nation, having previously faced South Africa twice and Botswana once.
• Algeria’s record against Southern African teams reads P3 W1 D0 L2.
• Algeria lost 4-0 and 5-1 to South Africa in the group stages in 2006 and 2014 respectively, before defeating Botswana 1-0 at the 2024 edition. 
• This will be Algeria’s first WAFCON knockout game against a Southern African nation.

Malawi – Key Statistics

• Malawi defeated Ghana 2-1 to reach the semi-finals in their debut appearance at the WAFCON. 
• They have qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time.
• Malawi become only the second national team from the country, across senior and youth men’s and women’s football, to qualify for a FIFA World Cup tournament. The Malawi men’s Under-17 side competed at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2009. FIFA’s records list that as Malawi’s only previous World Cup tournament appearance. 
• Malawi are the first WAFCON debutants since Zimbabwe in 2000 to reach the semi-finals. Zimbabwe were beaten by Nigeria in the last four that year. 
• Excluding the inaugural tournament in 1998, no WAFCON debutant has reached the final. Malawi can become the first to do so.
• Malawi are only the third debutants since 1998 to progress beyond the group stage, after Zimbabwe in 2000 and Botswana in 2022, and the first of those three to reach the semi-finals since Zimbabwe. 
• Should they reach the final, Malawi will become only the second Southern African nation to do so since 1998, after South Africa, who have appeared in five finals.
• Excluding the inaugural tournament in 1998, Malawi are the first debutants to win three matches at a single WAFCON. Nigeria won five and Ghana three games in 1998.
• Malawi are the fourth Southern African nation to reach a WAFCON semi-final, after South Africa, Zimbabwe in 2000 and Zambia in 2022. Of those previous three, only South Africa progressed to the final. 
• Malawi scored first in their opening two games against Nigeria and Egypt. They have conceded first in their last two, a 2-1 group-stage defeat to Zambia and a 2-1 quarter-final victory over Ghana. 
• Their victory over Ghana was the first time Malawi had won a WAFCON match after conceding the opening goal. Ghana went ahead through Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah in the seventh minute before Temwa Chawinga equalised five minutes later and Rose Kadzere scored the winner in the 79th minute. 
• Malawi have scored and conceded in all four of their matches and are still searching for their first clean sheet.
• They have scored nine goals, the most of the four semi-finalists.
• They have conceded six goals, the most of the four remaining teams.
• Malawi are the only one of the four semi-finalists yet to keep a clean sheet. Their results have been 3-2 against Nigeria, 3-1 against Egypt, 1-2 against Zambia and 2-1 against Ghana. 
• Temwa Chawinga scored against Ghana to take her tally to four goals at the current finals. 
• Chawinga also provided the assist for Kadzere’s winning goal against Ghana and now has six goal involvements, with four goals and two assists. She had previously provided an assist in the victory over Egypt. 
• Chawinga has the joint-most goal involvements at the current finals with Zambia’s Barbra Banda, with six.
• Chawinga is the tournament’s joint-second leading scorer with four goals, one behind Banda, who scored five before Zambia’s elimination. Banda’s fifth came in the 2-1 win over Malawi. 
• Chawinga has scored in three of Malawi’s four matches – against Nigeria, Egypt and Ghana – and they have won all three. 

Algeria – Key Statistics

• Algeria won a WAFCON knockout game for the first time with their 2-1 comeback victory over Côte d’Ivoire in the quarter-finals. 
• They have reached the WAFCON semi-finals for the first time.
• Algeria have also qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time. 
• Like Algeria’s men’s team did in 2014, they will make their FIFA World Cup debut in a tournament hosted by Brazil.
• Algeria have never lost a WAFCON knockout game in open play. Their only previous knockout match before the current quarter-final was a 0-0 draw with Ghana at the 2024 edition, which they lost 4-2 on penalties. 
• Those are also Algeria’s only two WAFCON knockout matches to date, with the Ghana clash their only penalty shoot-out.
• Their victory over Côte d’Ivoire was the first time Algeria had won a WAFCON match after conceding first.
• Algeria trailed to Inès Konan’s 30th-minute goal before second-half strikes from Inès Khiri (58’) and Amira Ould Braham (64’) completed the comeback. 
• Victory over Malawi will see Algeria become only the second North African nation to reach a WAFCON final, after Morocco in 2022 and 2024.
• Algeria have scored six goals and conceded just two at the current finals.
• Six goals is the most Algeria have scored at a single WAFCON. Their previous best was four. 
• Of the four semi-finalists, only Morocco, with one, have conceded fewer goals than Algeria. Cameroon have also conceded two.
• Algeria scored both their goals against Côte d’Ivoire in the second half.
• Inès Khiri and Amira Ould Braham scored their first goals of the current WAFCON in the victory over Côte d’Ivoire. 
• Algeria’s six goals at the current finals have been scored by five different players: Marine Dafeur has two, while Melissa Bethi, Lynda Bendris, Khiri and Ould Braham have one each. 
• Dafeur assisted Ould Braham’s winner against Côte d’Ivoire, her first assist of the current finals and third goal involvement. She has also scored twice. 
• Algeria have won all three matches in which Dafeur has registered a goal involvement. She scored in the group-stage victories over Senegal and Kenya and provided the assist for the winner against Côte d’Ivoire. 
• Algeria have won three matches at the current edition. They had managed only three victories in their previous six WAFCON appearances combined, across 19 matches. 
• Roselène Khezami attempted 70 passes against Côte d’Ivoire and completed 53 for a 76% completion rate. 
• Algeria have had eight players start all four of their games, while nine players have featured in every match.
• Six players – Inès Belloumou, Marine Dafeur, Roselène Khezami, Amira Ould Braham, Chloé N’Gazi and Lana Smits – have played all 360 minutes of Algeria’s campaign so far.