The Women’s African Cup of Nations (Wafcon) final on Saturday between hosts Morocco and South Africa marks a new era in the history of the women's game on the continent.
The two finalists pulled off some heroics of sorts to be able to reach the final and drag the game to its new era with the second phase of its development -that is the spread of its superpowers and the game's popularity.
That is because in its formative years, which is its first phase, very few countries dominated the tournament. Nigeria won 11 of the third titles with two going to Equatorial Guinea.
So what this means is that on Saturday when the final is played a first time winner will be found.
That is because the two finalists have never won the title before even though South Africa played in the final five times previously in 1995, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018 but they never managed to win.
With Banyana Banyana beating fellow COSAFA team Zambia to reach the final, Morocco did the heaviest lifting by bringing down giants Nigeria to become the first country in North Africa to reach the final.
IfThe first phase focused on the rise of aFew superpowers were led by NigeriaThen the new phase is upon us. aThe game’s development is driving the spread of the best teams to the top.
The flagship women's national tournament of the continent which is held every two years has been dominated by Nigeria since its inception.
With a new country reaching the final while South Africa are also chasing their first trophy, it shows that the continent is moving away from the era where Nigeria completely dominated.
Now the Super Falcons with the continent's best player Asisat Oshoala of Barcelona in their midst, they will still be a force on the continent but they will have more opponents to contend with.
This growth at the level of the teams has also been matched by the progress off the pitch with supporters turning out in numbers to support the competition.
The semi-final match between Nigeria and Morocco broke the continent's attendance record with 45,562 fans turning up mainly to support the Atlas Lionesses in Rabat.
This is a clear demonstration that the game's acceptance among the fans has seen tremendous growth particularly in Morocco where the federation led by Fouzi Lekjaa have spared no efforts in getting the fans to follow the game just like they do for men.
But without the results the supporters won't be as enthusiastic, which also paints the picture that efforts to improve the women's game with the setting up of the first professional women's league in Africa is bringing the desired results.
What makes it sweeter is that while 45,562 fans turned up for the Morocco versus Nigeria match, just 28,994 were present to watch the blockbuster match between hosts England and Spain in the European version of the tournament.
While this is a great indication of the interest and by no means a suggestion that Africa has overtaken Europe in women's football, it is a clear demonstration that Africa's women's football is growing with the potential of challenging the best in the very near future.