Chawinga sisters inspire Malawi to historic WAFCON final
Malawi have reached their first-ever WAFCON final after the Chawinga sisters inspired a 3-1 semi-final victory over Algeria.
Malawi have reached their first-ever Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final after defeating Algeria 3-1 in Wednesday’s semi-final in Rabat.
The Scorchers continued their remarkable debut campaign by overcoming another highly rated opponent.
Tabitha Chawinga opened the scoring with an acrobatic effort before her sister Temwa doubled Malawi’s advantage in first-half stoppage time. Tabitha later struck again to complete the victory and underline the sisters’ influence.
Algeria were reduced to 10 players when Morgane Belkhiter was sent off following a VAR review. Malawi also lost Rose Kadzere to a red card before half-time, producing a frantic contest with both teams repeatedly threatening.
Ikram Adjabi briefly revived Algeria’s hopes by pulling a goal back in the second half. However, Tabitha restored Malawi’s two-goal advantage before the Scorchers defended their lead to secure a historic qualification.
The result extends Malawi’s extraordinary run at their maiden WAFCON appearance. They had already stunned defending champions Nigeria before defeating Ghana in the quarter-finals, while their semi-final victory also secured qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Malawi will face either hosts Morocco or Cameroon in Sunday’s final. The Scorchers, ranked 153rd in the world before the tournament, are now one victory away from completing one of the competition’s greatest underdog stories.
