Edo Queens twice behind, still champions in Ouagadougou
7 min read
Twice behind, twice level, and then perfect from 12 yards. Edo Queens’ 2026 WAFU‑B Women’s Champions League triumph in Ouagadougou was less a twist than a confirmation: this is a team built on goals and nerve. At the August 4 Stadium on Saturday, September 5, the Nigerian champions drew 2-2 with Ghana’s Ampem Darkoa Ladies and then won 4-1 on penalties to clinch the regional crown and the West African ticket to the CAF Women’s Champions League later this year.
Beline Nyarko put Ampem Darkoa ahead in the second minute and again 16 minutes from time, but Doosuur Anastasia Atume levelled in the fourth minute and Oluebube Umejiaku forced the shootout deep into stoppage time. From there, Kennedy Boboye’s side were flawless, converting all four spot-kicks, while the Ghanaian champions managed one from three. It was a composure test as much as a football match, and Edo Queens passed it with authority.
A comeback that fits their competitive identity
Premium Times had framed Edo Queens’ brief starkly before kick-off: avenge their group-stage loss to Ampem Darkoa, “retain their WAFU-B crown” and carry West Africa’s flag to South Africa. They arrived as defending champions of Nigeria’s NWFL Premiership and, crucially, as the tournament’s leading scorers with 16 goals heading into the final. That attacking output and the willingness to keep asking questions even when the clock is against them have become signatures of this group.
The final compressed those traits into 90-plus minutes. Conceding after two minutes can rattle a side; equalising two minutes later announces intent. Going behind again late can break resolve; finding a stoppage-time leveller, as Umejiaku did, is the opposite. The shootout then distilled identity into execution: four penalties, four conversions, while stress and fatigue caught up with their opponents.
The road to the final from Group B
Edo Queens did not arrive at the August 4 Stadium by accident. Their group-stage run was emphatic from the jump: a 7-0 opening win over AS Garde Nationale of Niger, followed by a 3-1 defeat of ASEC Mimosas of Côte d’Ivoire. Ampem Darkoa then edged them 2-1 in the final Group B game — a defeat that stung and set up the narrative arc for Ouagadougou’s decider.
The response was immediate and ruthless in the semi-final: a 5-1 dismantling of Burkina Faso’s USFA put Edo Queens into the title match. Ampem Darkoa travelled a dominant path of their own, winning all four matches prior to the final, including that 2-1 over Edo Queens, and beating FC Dynamique d’Abomey 4-1 in the semis. The final, then, was a true meeting of form teams as much as old foils.
The players who changed the final
Names matter on nights like this. Atume, the NWFL Premiership’s top scorer and the tournament’s eventual Golden Boot winner, erased Ampem Darkoa’s second-minute strike almost instantly with a fourth-minute equaliser. When the Ghanaian champions went back in front late, it was Umejiaku who delivered under pressure, scoring deep into stoppage time to drag the contest into penalties.
Beyond the scoresheet, the individual honours underline Edo Queens’ spine. Winger Oluwakemi Adegbuyi was named Player of the Tournament after consistently driving the team’s threat across Ouagadougou. Those awards do not win shootouts, but they signal a side with multiple match-winners. In the tie’s decisive seconds, Boboye’s players translated that quality into calm execution from the spot.
Leadership, pressure and belief
The tone from Benin City in the build-up was unambiguous. “The girls are ready and good to go,” said Hon. Amadin Desmond Enabulele, Executive Chairman of the Edo State Sports Commission, adding: “we have the confidence that the cup is going back to Edo State in Nigeria.” He publicly thanked Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo for his support and called for nationwide prayers, underscoring the weight of expectation around the squad.
Captain Uroko Valentina’s message matched the chairman’s conviction, and added the dressing-room’s ethic. “It is God and hard work that … brought us this far. We are ready,” she said, promising she would be “the happiest person in Edo Queens to win the WAFU-B trophy for the second time,” and calling the final “the game of our lives.” What read as rhetoric on Friday landed as reportage on Saturday: Edo Queens took on pressure, then played like a team used to it.
The detail
What winning WAFU‑B unlocks
The WAFU‑B tournament is not just a regional title; it is the funnel into the continent. Premium Times spelt out the stakes succinctly: the winners “will represent West Africa at the CAF Women’s Champions League proper in South Africa later this year.” That adds a hard edge to every knockout decision, and it made the penalty sequence in Ouagadougou more than a coda — it was the qualification gate itself. In that context, holding nerve from 12 yards was not merely a trophy-winning act but the final administrative stamp on a continental passport. The path also shows why the margin was always going to be tight. This was the teams’ second meeting of the tournament after Ampem Darkoa’s 2-1 group win; they had seen each other’s strengths up close. Edo Queens had arrived at the final as leading scorers (16 goals already), but the ticket could only be issued to one club. When the game tightened into a binary finale, Boboye’s squad solved it in the only way that counts in qualifiers: survive the 90, then perfect the five.
| Stage | Opponent | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|
| Group B | AS Garde Nationale (Niger) | 7-0 |
| Group B | ASEC Mimosas (Côte d’Ivoire) | 3-1 |
| Group B | Ampem Darkoa Ladies (Ghana) | 1-2 |
| Semi-final | USFA (Burkina Faso) | 5-1 |
| Final | Ampem Darkoa Ladies (Ghana) | 2-2 (4-1 pens) |
Representing West Africa at the CAF Women’s Champions League
The immediate upshot is clear: Edo Queens’ victory “secures their place in the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League,” as both Ghanasoccernet and Complete Sports reported. Premium Times adds the crucial geography — South Africa hosts the “continental showpiece” later this year. The WAFU‑B ticket means a step into a harder room, against champions from other regions and with little margin for error. The elements that carried them through in Ouagadougou — patience after setbacks, goals spread across key moments, and penalty composure — will travel well.
There is also the reputation piece. Ampem Darkoa’s campaign, which included four straight wins before the final and a previous 2-1 victory over Edo Queens, underlines the depth at the top of West Africa’s women’s game. For Edo Queens, beating that resume the way they did is a credible dress rehearsal for the CAFWCL stage. The task now is to turn a qualifying identity into a continental one without the safety net of familiarity.
What will count as success from here
The WAFU‑B crown comes with its own shine, but South Africa will set the new bar. Success for Edo Queens will look like carrying their habits into the CAF Women’s Champions League: starting fast rather than chasing deficits, sustaining the scoring threat that made them the qualifying tournament’s top attack heading into the final, and leaning on award-winning performers at decisive moments. Adegbuyi’s Player of the Tournament and Atume’s Golden Boot validate the talent base; the stoppage-time equaliser and the perfect shootout validate the mentality.
Boboye’s group has already shown they can fix what ails them — the only defeat in Ouagadougou became the fuel for the trophy. The calendar now compresses into travel and a new level of scrutiny, but if Edo Queens stay true to an identity built on volume and resolve, they will give West Africa what the region qualified for: a side that asks hard questions of the continent’s best when it matters most.
Sources: Edo Queens edge Ampem Darkoa on penalties to win WAFU B Women's Champions League (ghanasoccernet.com); WAFU B Champions League: Edo Queens Beat Ghana’s Ampen Darkoa On Penalities To Clinch Title (www.completesports.com); CAFWCLQ: Edo Queens seek revenge against Ampem Darkoa in WAFU-B Final (www.premiumtimesng.com)
Images: Cover: ChéRatou / Wikimedia Commons; Figure 1: ChéRatou / Wikimedia Commons; Figure 2: Reda benkhadra / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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