Distinguishing Truth From Fact: WAFCON 2026 As Case Study
By Olakunle Osisanya
olakunleosisanyag@gmail.com
The ongoing Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) 2026 at Morroco has elicited mixed reactions from followers of African female football.
While some believe that the standard of play has been below European and American standards, others argue that it has been more competitive (fewer one sided games), but the overall quality still has room for improvement.
The Super Falcons of Nigeria had poor preparations coming to the tournament and it reflected in the quality of play during the early games. Also, the selection of some players seemed based on criteria other than merit.
Furthermore, it would appear that our mostly foreign based stars would prefer a coach from whom they can draw inspiration and not one they are merely tolerating.
Interestingly, a major talking point from the tournament is the final table from the Group C qualifiers which featured Egypt, Malawi, Nigeria and Zambia.
In the attached pictures, the table with Zambia at the top, factually (mathematically) reflects the outcomes on the field of play; however, it is incorrect. The truth is that according to tournament rules, the table with Malawi at the top, is the correct version. Confusing? Not really.
CAF announced before the competition that the Head to Head rules would apply. The peculiarities of the results was; Malawi beat Nigeria, Nigeria beat Zambia, Zambia beat Malawi. All 3 beat Egypt and had 6 points each. Thus, at the end of the group stage, all Egypt results were wiped out.
Only results between the 3 were taken into consideration and Malawi qualified as top of the table due to higher goals scored (4), Nigeria is next with (3 goals) and Zambia are out because they scored just (2) goals.
While Zambians may be feeling hard done by; however, the rules were spelt out before the tournament and were equally applicable to every team.
The major benefit to be drawn from this saga is that this can be a model on how to distinguish truth from fact. Let’s be reminded that the table with Zambia at the top with actual results is factual; however, in reality, the table with Malawi at the top is the truth.
Still confused?
