Egypt knocked out of Women’s Africa Cup of Nations after Malawi defeat

Egypt’s hopes of progressing at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations ended with a 3-1 defeat by Malawi in their second group-stage match.

Rose Kadzira, Faith Chinzimu and Temwa Chawinga scored for Malawi, while Eman Kassem netted Egypt’s only goal of the tournament so far. The result means Egypt are the second team to be eliminated, following Kenya’s departure.

Egypt will play Nigeria in their final group match before leaving the competition. That game is scheduled for Wednesday at 23:00 Cairo time, in the closing fixture of the group stage.

Egypt made the brighter start and created an early opportunity in the third minute. Sarah Essam was unable to make proper contact with Farah El Mahdy’s cross, allowing Malawi to escape.

Essam was presented with another chance in the 19th minute, but Malawi’s goalkeeper produced an excellent save to deny her.

Malawi then threatened at the other end, with Rose Kadzira seeing her first opportunity stopped by Egypt goalkeeper Maha Shehata in the 24th minute.

Kadzira eventually broke the deadlock nine minutes before half-time. She took advantage of a well-delivered cross and finished into the net to give Malawi the lead in the 36th minute.

Egypt’s position worsened in the second minute of added time at the end of the first half, when Faith Chinzimu scored Malawi’s second goal.

Malawi were reduced to 10 players seven minutes after the restart when Rose Alofandika was shown a red card in the 52nd minute.

Despite playing with a numerical disadvantage, Malawi extended their advantage in the 69th minute. Temwa Chawinga found herself through on goal and placed her finish to the right of the Egypt goalkeeper.

Egypt responded two minutes later, with Kassem scoring their first goal of the tournament to reduce the deficit.

There was further drama in stoppage time. The referee awarded Malawi a penalty in the fourth minute of added time, but the decision was overturned following a video assistant referee review.

The defeat was Egypt’s second in succession and confirmed that they will not advance beyond the group stage. Their remaining fixture against Nigeria will therefore be their final match of the tournament.

Egypt’s elimination comes after a match in which they had early chances but were unable to convert them, while Malawi capitalised on key moments before and after the interval. Even after losing a player to a red card, Malawi maintained enough control to secure victory and leave Egypt facing an early exit.

The match was played on Saturday, 1 August 2026, with the result leaving Egypt unable to recover their position in the group before their meeting with Nigeria.