Despite Zambia finishing with a superior overall goal difference, CAF's head-to-head tiebreaker rules ultimately sent the Copper Queens out of the tournament. Zambia exited WAFCON 2026 despite finishing level on points with Nigeria and Malawi. Zambia beat Malawi 2-1 but lost 1-0 to Nigeria, while Malawi defeated Nigeria 3-2. Why Nigeria and Malawi qualified ahead of ZambiaAs a result, Malawi finished ahead of Nigeria on head-to-head goals scored, with both teams advancing to the quarter-finals. In the end, the difference came down to goals scored against each other, not goals scored throughout the entire group.