As the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) heads into a thrilling finale this weekend, the past three weeks have delivered a rich mix of drama, heartbreak, joy, and history.

After 24 matches across five cities, the women’s tournament, which started on July 5, is now down to four teams — two in the final and the others in the third-place game.

The Super Falcons and Morocco would play in Saturday’s final match. For Nigeria, the game is part of their campaign dubbed “Mission X” as they aim for a record-extending 10th WAFCON title. Ghana and South Africa will clash in the playoff, which will come before then.

En route to the final, the Super Falcons have been dominant, playing five matches, winning four, and drawing just once — against Tunisia in a Group B clash. Morocco, on the other hand, has a similar unbeaten path, targeting to surpass their second-place outing in 2022.

Beyond the final, this year’s tournament has been an inspiring story of unfiltered passion, resilience, and drive, a testament to the growth of women’s football in Africa, 27 years after the first edition of the WAFCON was held.

From pre-match interviews, emotional post-game reviews, to analyses, the voices behind the 2024 WAFON have delivered a compelling narrative beyond the football pitches.

This video compilation captures the unadulterated passion of the coaches, players, and analysts from the earliest games in the championship to Saturday’s final match.

‘No One Expected Ghana To Come This Far’, Says Black Queens’ Coach, ahead of their third-place game against South Africa, Ghana’s Black Queens are fine-tuning preparations for the match.

The players and coaching staff want to bow out of the tournament in style by winning a bronze medal. In his pre-match conference, Ghana’s coach Kim Lars Bjorkegren hails his team for reaching the last four of the competition, before agonizingly bowing out to Morocco in the semi-final.

Despite falling short against the hosts, Bjorkegren is full of praise for the West African side, saying the team was not given a chance at the beginning of the competition.

“What we are doing in this tournament is really good,” said Bjorkegren, who wants to win the game against South Africa.

WAFCON Shows Growth Of Women’s Football — Nigeria’s Madugu

For his Nigerian counterpart, Justin Madugu, the 2024 WAFCON is a reflection of the growth of women’s football in Africa.

Madugu, appointed on an interim basis, says the results in the WAFCON qualifiers and the tournament itself show that there “is no gap between any top team and any lesser team now”.

He believes that if given more attention, just like the men’s game, women’s football is set to blossom on the continent.

On the victory against South Africa, the Nigerian coach says the team kept believing in themselves even when things were tough in the match.

Salgado’s Injury Dampened South Africa, Says Ellis

Meanwhile, South Africa’s Desiree Ellis believes the horrible injury to forward Gabriela Salgado affected the team’s outing against the Nigerians. The player was stretchered off in the 88th minute of the highly-contested game.

Speaking after the game, Channels Television’s Cecelia Omorogbe, who has been on the ground in Morocco, said the Nigerians were happy to have beaten South Africa.

Even before kicking a ball, the Nigerian fans and coach were optimistic of getting a win against their perennial rivals.

Nigeria Crush Zambia

In the last eight, the Super Falcons made a statement win against Zambia, defeating the Copper Queens 5-0 in a one-sided encounter.

Following the crushing defeat to the Zambians, the team’s skipper said the Nigerians were underrated, a fact she said was motivating enough.

Zambia Went Hunting

The result against Nigeria was not what the Zambian coach expected. Ahead of the match, Nora Hauptle said her team will be out hunting against the nine-time WAFCON winners amid low turnout from fans in the Maghreb country.

Hauptle had said her team was ready for the Super Falcons, but got a rude shock on matchday.

Star player Babra Bandra had echoed similar sentiments, saying the Coppers queens were ready.

The Zambians defeated Nigeria 1-0 in the playoff game in 2022.

No Room For Errors — Madugu

Justin Madugu has been part of the coaching crew for the Super Falcons.

Oshoala Happy To Return, Help Team

Meanwhile, Nigeria opened their account for the tournament, winning against Tunisia 3-0, and then going ahead to beat Botswana 1-0 in the second game.

As Nigeria gets ready to play the final on Saturday, a 10th title will be a fitting crown for a team which was written off after a slow start. For Morocco, winning the competition will announce their name as one of the continent’s biggest names in women’s football. (Channels TV)