Algeria secured a dramatic bronze medal at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday, edging hosts Morocco 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the third-place play-off in Rabat, a result that extended Morocco’s painful run of shootout heartbreak on home soil.
Algeria secured a historic bronze medal at the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026 after defeating hosts Morocco 3-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in regulation time at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat. The victory marked Algeria’s first-ever podium finish in the history of the competition, giving the North Africans a memorable end to their campaign after their semi-final defeat to Malawi.
Morocco started the match strongly and came close to taking the lead in the 17th minute when Ibtissam Jraidi’s first-time effort struck the crossbar. The hosts eventually broke the deadlock nine minutes later, as Kautar Azraf showed excellent technique to beat her marker before curling the ball into the far corner with her left foot to put Morocco ahead.
Morocco thought they had doubled their lead in the second half when Maryam Atiq found the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed, leaving the hosts with only a narrow one-goal advantage. Algeria continued to push for an equaliser and eventually found it in the 83rd minute through Lina Boussaha, levelling the score at 1-1. Neither side found a winning goal before the final whistle, sending the bronze-medal clash to a penalty shootout.
In the shootout, Morocco converted their first two penalties before missing the following three. Algeria, meanwhile, failed to score from two of their four penalties before Ines Belloumou stepped up to net the decisive spot-kick and give Algeria the bronze. Algeria prevailed 3-2 to finish third and claim the bronze medal.
The result compounded a bitter week for Morocco. The WAFCON hosts had already been eliminated in the semi-finals on Wednesday after losing a shootout to Cameroon having had three consecutive kicks saved. That defeat ended Morocco’s hopes of reaching a third consecutive WAFCON final and marked the first time they had failed to reach at least the final as tournament hosts.
This marks the third straight WAFCON hosted by Morocco, and they have come up short every time, finishing runners-up in both 2022 and 2024. Failure to win the third-place match meant Morocco finished outside the top three as hosts for the first time in the competition’s history.
The Atlas Lionesses have had a notable and largely unfortunate relationship with penalty shootouts at this year’s WAFCON, with all three of their knockout-stage matches decided from the spot.
For Algeria, the result represented a landmark achievement regardless of the manner of victory. Algeria were already guaranteed their best-ever finish at the tournament heading into Saturday’s match, following their semi-final exit to debutants Malawi. The fixture was also a historic one for African football more broadly, CAF noted it was the first meeting between two North African teams in a medal match at WAFCON, and the first time two teams from the same region had contested the tournament’s third-place play-off. The two sides had already met earlier in the tournament during the group stage, with Morocco winning 1-0 through a Sanaa Mssoudy goal in the 84th minute.
Despite the disappointment, the only consolation for Morocco is that reaching the semi-finals had already guaranteed them a place at the expanded 32-nation Women’s World Cup in Brazil next year.
The tournament concludes on Sunday, with Cameroon facing Malawi in the final for the WAFCON title.
