WAFCON: Zambia Coach Fumes As Controversial CAF Rule Sees Super Falcons, Malawi Qualify

Zambia women’s national team head coach Nora Häuptle has criticized the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after her side was eliminated from the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).

The Copper Queens were knocked out of the tournament despite beating Malawi 2-1 in their final group match on Wednesday.

Zambia, Nigeria’s Super Falcons, and Malawi all finished Group C with six points. However, CAF’s head-to-head tiebreak rule was used to separate the three teams.

Under the regulations, only the results between the tied teams were considered. Nigeria scored four goals in those matches, Malawi scored three, while Zambia managed two, allowing Nigeria and Malawi to advance to the quarter-finals.

Reacting to the decision, Häuptle questioned the fairness of the rule.

“We scored the most goals in this group, and we conceded the least goals,” Häuptle said, according to Lusaka Times.

“Sometimes I’m not sure if we do the right things with this kind of regulations because it feels completely weird that we are out.”