SPORTS: Malawi Make History at WAFCON With Six Points From Two Games

The Malawi Scorchers have done something no one expected. On their first-ever appearance at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, they have beaten defending champions Nigeria 3-2 and followed it up with a 3-1 win over Egypt. Six points from two games. Top of Group C. In Morocco. On the continent's biggest women's football stage.

Think about what that means for a moment. Girls who grew up playing on uneven pitches, in a country where women's football has rarely made the front page, are now the talk of the continent. They went to Morocco as underdogs and they have not lost a single minute of sleep over it.

The goals tell the story. Temwa Chawinga broke the deadlock against Nigeria in the 73rd minute, her sister Tabitha added a second seven minutes later, and Temwa scored again deep in stoppage time to make it 3-1 before Nigeria pulled two back to 3-2. Malawi held on. 

Against Egypt at Moulay El Hassan Stadium on 1 August, Rose Kadzere opened the scoring in the 31st minute, finishing off a well-placed pass from Temwa Chawinga. Faith Chinzimu doubled the lead just before halftime, in the 45th minute. Temwa then made it 3-0 in the 68th minute with a composed finish. Egypt pulled one back through Iman Hassan two minutes later, but by then the game was already won.

What made the Egypt win more remarkable was that Malawi played more than half of it with 10 players. Rose Alufandika was shown a straight red card in the 52nd minute. A woman down, away from home, against a football nation twice their size, and the Scorchers did not flinch once. Head coach Lovemore Fazili said his team had shown exactly the character he demanded. 

"I am happy with the performance and I am happy with the players because they have shown good character," he said. He also pushed back on any suggestion his side had taken Egypt lightly after they lost 6-0 to Zambia. 

"We did not underrate Egypt because they lost 6-0 to Zambia. We knew they would come out strongly against us, and they did that in the first half," Fazili said. 

"In the second half, after we talked and discussed, we saw a change. We scored three goals, and even after Rose Alufandika was given a red card, we kept on fighting until the end and won 3-1."

Tabitha plays her club football for OL Lyon in France. Temwa, the 2024 NWSL Most Valuable Player, plays for Kansas City Current in the United States. Nineteen-year-old Faith Chinzimu lines up for BK Häcken in Sweden. These are not girls who wandered onto a pitch by chance. They crossed borders, endured the loneliness of playing thousands of kilometres from home, and kept Malawi in their hearts the whole time. Now they are repaying this country with something it has never seen before.

What makes this run hit differently is the context. Malawi has never been at this tournament before. Nigeria have won it more times than any other nation. Egypt are no minnows either. To beat both in the space of a few days, in front of a continental audience, is not a fluke. It is the product of years of quiet, unglamorous work by players, coaches, and a federation that kept going even when nobody was watching.

The Chawinga sisters have carried the expectations of Malawian women's football on their shoulders for years. The weight of that alone is something most people cannot imagine. But this tournament has shown that the national team is bigger than two names. Kadzere scored. Chinzimu scored. Players held their shape for 90 minutes with a teammate sent off. That is a squad with belief, not a one-woman show.

Women's football in Malawi has existed in the shadow of the men's game for as long as anyone can remember. Funding has been unequal. Attention has been scarce. Facilities have rarely been built with women in mind. Many of these players will have heard at some point in their lives that football is not for them. They answered that with their boots, and right now they are answering it on a continental stage.

The Scorchers need only a draw against Zambia in their final group game to secure a historic place in the quarterfinals. If they reach the semi-finals, they earn an automatic ticket to the FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil in 2027. Malawi has never been to a Women's World Cup. That reality could change within days. When it does, and insha'Allah it will, let this country receive them as they deserve.

When these players land back in Lilongwe, however this tournament ends, they deserve a reception that matches what they have done. They went to Morocco carrying a nation's quiet hope and they turned it into something loud and undeniable. Africa knows Malawi's name now.