Published: October 9, 2026
For three seasons, Shaita Angels have watched Determine Girls tighten their grip on women’s football in Liberia.
Now, they have another chance to strike back.
Shaita Angels will face six-time league champions Determine Girls in the 2026-27 Liberia Football Association Women’s Super Cup on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at the SKD Practice Pitch in Paynesville.
The matchup pits the champions of Liberia’s two major domestic women’s competitions against each other. Shaita Angels won the LFA Orange Cup, while Determine Girls retained the Women’s First Division title, formerly known as the LFA Upper Women’s League.
For Shaita, however, the Super Cup is more than a battle between cup and league champions. It is an opportunity to settle an old score.
The rivalry reached an intriguing chapter last season in the league title decider, when Shaita needed a win to deny Determine Girls the championship. Determine needed only a draw.
The match ended 0-0, allowing Determine Girls to celebrate a sixth consecutive league title and leaving Shaita to contemplate another missed opportunity.
The championship also carried significant financial rewards. Determine Girls secured a combined prize package of $125,000, including a $100,000 preparatory grant from the Confederation of African Football and an additional $25,000 prize from the LFA.
But while Determine Girls have dominated domestically, their recent continental performances have raised questions about whether their reign can be challenged at home.
For the second consecutive year, Determine Girls failed to win a match at the WAFU Zone A CAF Women’s Champions League qualifiers, finishing at the bottom of their group.
That disappointing continental campaign has intensified calls for stronger competition in Liberia’s women’s game, with Shaita Angels viewed as the club best positioned to challenge Determine’s dominance.
Shaita now have another weapon in that challenge: Robert Lartey.
The former Determine Girls coach is now guiding Shaita Angels, adding another layer to an already compelling rivalry.
Lartey joined Determine Girls permanently during the 2024-25 season and immediately guided the club to a historic treble, winning the LFA Upper Women’s League, the Orange Cup and the LFA Women’s Super Cup.
His relationship with Determine, however, goes back further.
During an earlier spell with the club in 2022, Lartey led Determine Girls to their first regional title by winning the WAFU Zone A CAF Women’s Champions League qualifiers. That success earned Liberia its first qualification for the CAF Women’s Champions League finals in Morocco.
Now, the coach who helped build Determine Girls’ dominance is being tasked with ending it.
That mission begins Saturday.
For Shaita Angels, victory would deliver more than another trophy. It would provide an early statement that the balance of power in Liberian women’s football may finally be shifting.
Men’s Super Cup
The men’s Super Cup will provide another contest shaped by disappointment and unfinished business.
Watanga FC, the First Division champions, will face Orange Cup winners Black Man Warriors on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at the SKD Practice Pitch.
Both clubs enter the match after setbacks involving CAF club competitions.
Watanga and Black Man Warriors couldn’t participate in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup qualifiers, respectively, after the LFA failed to register the clubs before the deadline.
The Super Cup therefore gives both teams a chance to put that disappointment aside and start the new domestic campaign with silverware.
Discussion about this post