With just 90 minutes to go before a historic final, Algeria can rely on one certainty: in goal, N'Gazi has let almost nothing slip through all tournament long. Against Malawi at the Rabat Olympic Stadium, the Greens have a lot at stake, and the goalkeeper, who returned to FC Fleury 91 during the off-season, perfectly embodies the solidity that has carried this run so far.
A streak that has defined the tournament
Decisive from the very start against Senegal, N'Gazi recorded her fifth consecutive clean sheet in the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, a streak that began in the previous edition and was only broken in the semi-final by a late goal from Morocco's Sanaa Mssoudy, after more than 450 minutes without conceding.
Match after match, her stats tell the same story: two saves from two shots and 0.17 goals prevented against Senegal in the opener (Flashscore rating of 7.1), two saves and 84% pass completion against Morocco on matchday two (6.4), then two saves from two, 0.71 goals prevented and 66% pass completion against Kenya to close out the group stage (7.5).
In the quarter-final, in a match against Ivory Coast that secured a spot at the 2027 World Cup, she delivered one of her most complete performances: four saves from five shots, 86% pass completion, 63% successful long passes, for a rating of 7.6 - her best of the tournament.
Before that decisive quarter-final, she summed up the stakes with her trademark composure: "Every match for us is a final, whether it's a group game or a knockout round. It's in our DNA, the fact that we all fight together, that's Algeria. We don't have the right to disappoint. No matter the result, I know we'll have given everything by the end of the match."
She expressed the same conviction at the press conference: "Fighting on the pitch is part of our identity. That's who we are, we Algerians."
'I've been struggling for a year and a half'
Despite her calm presence on the pitch, N'Gazi has been open about the tough times she endured before this tournament. In the mixed zone after qualifying against Ivory Coast, the goalkeeper made a rare admission about her season at OM.
"Last year was a tough season for me, I had problems with my coach. They didn't trust me; they tried to bring me down as low as possible. Today, this victory is the result of hard work. I've been struggling for a year and a half, but here I have a coach who believes in me, teammates who believe in me, an entire country that believes in me, and that gives me strength."
This confession casts her performance at this WAFCON in a new light: far from simply confirming her status as the number one goalkeeper, this tournament feels like a personal comeback, away from the atmosphere of mistrust she says she experienced at club level.
That may explain the power of the message she posted after Algeria's historic World Cup qualification, as the women's team had never before reached the global tournament: "WE DID IT. ALL TOGETHER. (…) My teammates, my sisters, my soldiers. On the pitch, on the bench, we did it all together. With a coach and staff who believe in us, who support us and fight with us every day.
"Today, Algeria is qualified for a World Cup. Just writing that sentence makes my eyes shine. But we still have a semi-final to win. And this competition to finish."
She had already expressed these ambitions to L'Equipe before the tournament began: "Our ambitions are always growing. At the last AFCON, our goal was to reach at least the quarter-finals for the first time, and we achieved that. This year, with the potential World Cup qualification (in the semi-final), we want to go even further."
An unprecedented test against Malawi
Algeria's opponent this Wednesday in Rabat, Malawi, is not a traditional powerhouse in the competition: the Scorchers are playing their very first WAFCON finals and reached the last four by knocking out Ghana (2-1), a feat that, like Algeria, earned them direct qualification for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
Trailing from the seventh minute, Malawi equalised through an own goal before Rose Kadzere secured victory in the 79th minute. This is a team driven by a prolific attack, with nine goals in four matches, but whose defence is still seen as vulnerable - something that could give N'Gazi the chance to further cement her reputation as an almost unbeatable wall. Algeria has the second-best defence in this AFCON, behind Morocco, who have conceded just one goal.
Whatever the outcome, the stakes go beyond just qualification: for both Algeria and Malawi, it will be the first time in their history that they play in a WAFCON final. This adds extra meaning to N'Gazi's determination, and to the sense of redemption she seems to be achieving, match after match, after a season she described as fighting alone against everyone.