Women's Africa Cup of Nations hosts Morocco lost a second consecutive penalty shootout as Algeria came from behind to defeat the Atlas Lionesses 3-2 on penalties in Saturday's third-placed play-off to clinch WAFCON bronze for the first time following a 1-1 draw.
Lina Boussaha's late equaliser cancelled out Kautar Azraf's opener for Morocco while Nouhaila Benzina missed a stoppage-time penalty to secure a late victory for the hosts, before Najat Badri missed the decisive penalty for the Lionesses in an entertaining shootout.
Morocco initially bounced back strongly after the heartbreak of losing to Cameroon on penalties in the semifinal, taking the lead in the 37 minute when wonderkid Kautar Azraf - introduced to the starting XI by Jorge Vilda - finished excellently beyond Chloe N'Gazi.
Receiving the ball from Hanane Aït El Haj, racing uncharacteristically through the heart of the pitch, teenage striker Azraf chopped back beyond Inès Belloumou, cut onto her left and curled a shot into the Algerian net.
Ibtissam Jraïdi head earlier gone close for Morocco, hitting the crossbar inside the first 20 minutes, while Azraf nearly added to her tally later in the first half when she failed to connect effectively with a volley.
Morocco, who won the group-stage meeting between these two 1-0, felt they should have added to their tally in the 48th minute when Maryame Atiq headed home an Azraf free-kick from close range. However, following consultation with the Video Assistant Referee, the officials opted to rule out the goal after determining that Atiq had barged Amira Ould Brahman.
Still, at the hour mark, Morocco appeared in control, registering just under 65 percent of the possession, and should have added a second when Jraidi latched onto Fatima Tagnaout's threaded ball, which evaded Lana Smits, and forced a save from N'Gazi.
Lina Boussaha had struggled to make an impact for Algeria during the early stages of the match, but grew in prominent as the contest reached its denouement.
First, she raced onto a long ball and cut back for Marine Dafeur, only for the captain's effort to fly wide of Khadija Er-Rmichi's goal, and then blazed a volley over from eight yards out after getting her body position all wrong.
However, in the 83rd minute, she finally equalised for the Fennecs, poking beyond the advancing Er-Rmichi after being picked out by Sofia Bekhaled.
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- CAF Women Football (@CAFwomen) August 15, 2026
Both sides had chances to win it in stoppage time, Wassila Alouache racing down the right before setting up Boussaha, who could only hook it wide of Er-Rmichi's goal, while Morocco had a golden opportunity from the penalty spot.
As had been the case in the semi against Cameroon, when they received a late, late spotkick for a hand raised in the face of Sakina Diki Ouzraoui, it was the same player drawing the same kind of fault again here, although Lana Smits appeared unfortunate that the referee's decision went against her. It didn't matter, as Benzina could only fire her penalty against N'Gazi's right-hand post in the 97th minute as Morocco missed the chance to avoid another shootout.
As had been the case against Cameroon, failure to kill off a contest in which they were the superior side ultimately cost them on spotkicks.
N'Gazi saved from Zineb Redouani after Dafeur had put Algeria ahead, but Ould Brahman sent her effort wide before Élodie Nakkach levelled things with a beautiful penalty beyond the Fennecs keeper. Bekhaled and Rania Boutiebi both scored before Er-Rmichi saved Roselène Khezami's penalty onto the bar, giving the hosts a clear advantage, only for Chaymaa Mourtaji to send a poor penalty into the arms of N'Gazi.
Belloumou's penalty nestled into the side netting before substitute Badri fired her effort against the bar, ensuring an underwhelming WAFCON conclusion for disappointing Morocco.
The victory ends Algeria's best ever run in the competition, with the North Africans falling in the group stage at their first five attempts at the tournament before making the quarterfinals last year.