From the doubted to the believed
The Marauding Malawi women football national team, who came into the tournament as little-known underdogs, has entered into the annals of history by qualifying for the Women African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) after thumping an impressive 3 – 1 over one of the north African football giants Algeria in a do or die semi-final encounter to book a place in the final showpiece in Rabat in the Kingdom of Morocco.
Malawi’s super-talented Chawinga sisters, Tabitha and Temwa were once again the brightest stars of the show, sharing three goals as the Malawian rising football stars continued their fairy tale run at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations by booking their place in the final with a staggering 3-1 victory over Algeria in Rabat.
The Scorchers took a lead in the first half by comfortably beating their opponents by 2 – 0 through beautiful goals by Scorchers captain, France-based nimble left-footed Tabitha Chawinga and her US-based Temwa Chawinga.
Coming into the competition as one of the continent’s lowest-ranked side playing in in the tournament, the South-east African football minnows, who are making their WAFCON debut, were too strong for their opponents, adding Les Fennecs to their list of scalps having already defeated heavyweights Nigeria and Ghana earlier in the tournament.
But the scoreline failed to tell half the story of a frantic, end-to-end encounter which featured two first-half red cards awarded after the intervention of the video assistant referee (VAR) and a slew of presentable opportunities which were spurned by both sides.
Algeria defender Morgane Belkhiter, accompanied by another defender, had already seen red for denying Malawi skipper Tabitha Chawinga a goals-coring opportunity before the older of the two sisters broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute, executing an exciting but historic left-footed acrobatic overhead-kick, which cannoned off the crossbar, hit the turf and spun extravagantly over the goal line.
Tabitha’s sister, Temwa extended the lead in the first minute of first-half added time before her team-mate Rose Kadzere was also dismissed before the break following another extended VAR check, this time for a studs-up lunge.
The second half was only marginally more sedate, with Ikram Adjabi initially giving Algeria hope before Tabitha Chawinga’s second goal snuffed out any chance of a comeback.
The Scorchers will face either hosts Morocco or Cameroon in Sunday’s final (19:00 GMT), looking to become the fourth nation to lift the Wafcon trophy and complete what would be a remarkable underdog story.
After the final whistle, Malawian players and their supporters became emotional and painted the stadium black, red, green in jubilation.
Scorchers ready to make history
Scorchers head coach Lovemore Fazili said: “I am so proud of all my players. They really put in a good shift in every game that they have played.”
FAM president Fleethood Haiya could not hide his excitement when asked how he feels.
“This is historic. I am proud of everyone involved in the game, from the coaching staff, the players, officials, FAM and its affiliates and of course the supporters and the country at large.” said Haiya.
Malawi will face either tournament hosts Morocco or Cameroon in the grand final on Sunday, 16 August 2026 (19:00 GMT).
However, in this year’s tournament none of the remaining semi-finalists have ever won the competition before, the match will crown a brand-new WAFCON champion and Malawi looks certain and ready to lay its hands on the continent’s biggest women football silverware.
Background of both entities
WAFCON (Women’s Africa Cup of Nations) is Africa’s premier women’s national football tournament, while the Scorchers is the official nickname of the Malawi women’s national football team.
The background of both entities highlights WAFCON’s growth into a major continental showcase and Malawi’s rapid rise from regional competitors to historic finalists.
The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations is organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
It serves as the official African qualifying tournament for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The tournament began in 1991 as the CAF Women’s Championship, operating on a home-and-away knockout basis until switching to a biennial hosted tournament format in 1998.
It was officially rebranded as WAFCON in 2015.
On the historical dominance, Nigeria’s Super Falcons have historically dominated the tournament, winning 11 of the first 14 editions. Equatorial Guinea (two titles) and South Africa (2022 champions) are the only other nations to have won the trophy prior to 2026.
To foster the growth of women’s football across the continent, CAF expanded the tournament format from 8 teams to 12 teams starting with the 2022 edition in Morocco.
Scorchers’ bank of support
National Bank of Malawi, the official sponsor of the Malawi Women’s National Football Team, popularly known as the Scorchers.
As part of a massive multi-year sports development initiative unveiled by the Football Association of Malawi (FAM), NBM provides a dedicated annual sponsorship package to fuel the senior national women’s team and support the broader domestic women’s football structures.
This corporate backing has coincided with a legendary milestone for Malawian sports, as the Scorchers advanced to their first-ever Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) Final after defeating Algeria 3–1, while concurrently locking in their first historic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
NBM’s parent sports investment injects massive funding into the game, allocating over K450 million explicitly toward women’s football, which covers the Scorchers’ structured sponsorship alongside the newly established Mo626 Women’s Premier League.
To maximize morale during the high-stakes WAFCON tournament in Morocco, National Bank flew out a star-studded group of corporate customers, business partners, and cabinet ministers directly to the stadium to roar the Scorchers to a 2–1 quarter-final victory over Ghana.
The bank of the nation organised national fan Watch Parties as the bank has during the tournament regularly hosted packed public watch parties across major hubs like Lilongwe, Blantyre, and Mzuzu—complete with free entry and promotional gift giveaways—to unify local fans back home.
Background of the Scorchers
Malawi’s national women’s team, managed by the Football Association of Malawi, represents a football program that has experienced a massive surge in international prominence over the last few years.
Malawi women football was founded in the late 1990s, and the Scorchers played their first official international match in 2002 and the current assistant head coach Maggie Chombo was one the first pioneers of women football and Sugzo Ngwira was one the greatest influencers of the game of the women football.
For nearly two decades, the team struggled for funding and regular competitive fixtures, primarily participating in regional COSAFA (Council of Southern Africa Football Associations) tournaments.
The team’s modern golden era truly kicked off in October 2023, when they won their first-ever piece of silverware by defeating Zambia 2-1 to claim the COSAFA Women’s Championship.
This victory injected belief and structural support into the squad.
The Scorchers’ rapid ascent is fuelled heavily by two of the world’s most elite forwards, who happen to be sisters.
on the way to the finals the Scorchers have resoundingly defeated 10 times WAFCON winners, Nigeria, Egypt and Ghana but narrowly lost to their neighbours, Zambia to reach the finals and has since book their place at their first-ever Women’s World Cup in 2027 in Brazil.
“I am so proud of all my players.”
Lovemore Fazili
Malawi Scorchers Head Coach
