Road to 2027: Malawi has two of the best players in the world, but what will it do for them?
Ranked 156th in the world, Malawi has never been close to a major tournament, but with Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga shining in the USA and France, what are their plans to change things?
Malawi currently plays host to two of the world’s best footballers, but it’s women’s team is nowhere near the point of allowing either of them to ever showcase their talent on the world stage, not even the continental stage.
Sisters Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga currently play for Lyon and Kansas City Current respectively – the former having just swapped PSG for the French champions – and are the top scorers in their respective domestic leagues, but it’s a different story at international level.
The Southeastern African nation has a population of over 20m, but has never been close to reaching a major tournament, and has rarely even tried to qualify for the African Cup of Nations.
Ranked 156th in the latest FIFA world rankings, Malawi is only the 33rd ranked African nation, behind the likes of Benin, Uganda, Tanzania and the Central African Republic.
Women’s football in the nation though stretches back to 1998, formed in country’s second biggest city, Blantyre, with the Blantyre District League, with leagues later introduced in other regions.
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It started with 11 teams, and now there are just over 90 across the country, but they run at largely amateur or semi-professional level.
There are now three regional leagues with eight teams per region, with the leagues sponsored by the Football Association of Malawi, with help from FIFA, as well as several school leagues for girls under the age of 16. The domestic cup, participated by only four teams, is sponsored by the Malawi government.
In 2011, 2015 and 2019, the national team didn’t even enter the World Cup qualifiers, while in 2023 they were knocked out by Zambia 4-3 on aggregate, a nation who would eventually reach the final tournament.
Malawi beat Zambia again in the final of the 2023 COSAFA Championship, a tournament for teams in the southern part of Africa, with Temwa the top scorer in the competition with nine goals, emphasising the potential this team has, in beating a side who competed in a group alongside Spain and Japan last summer.
At the start of 2023, the FAM appointed its first Women’s Football Manager in Blandina Mdebwe, who has been tasked with helping to develop the sport, but the challenges are endless and not easily solvable.
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