The Scorchers’ fairy-tale story at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) in Rabat, Morocco reached dizzy heights last night when they qualified for the tournament’s semi-finals and booked their place at the 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
The Malawi National Women’s Football Team added three-time Wafcon runners-up Ghana to their list of casualties after coming from behind to claim a 2-1 victory in a quarter-final that shredded the nerves of all those that were privileged to follow the events as they unfolded.
After the match monitored on SuperSport Television, you couldn’t blame them for walking on air. A seismic victory didn’t just cheer up Malawi, but also a glorious anthem for every underdog who dares to dream.
Pure sky-high ecstasy! The monumental win didn’t just ignite Malawi. It proved exactly why the world loves a classic underdog story
There were scenes so lovely after the final whistle as the Scorchers turned the pitch into a theatre of celebrations.
The Black Queens, who are ranked 93 places above the Scorchers on Fifa Women’s World Rankings, were the first to get on the score sheet through their England-based winger Chantelle Boye-Hlorka in the seventh minute.
But the Scorchers drew level five minutes later with their first attempt at goal through US-based forward Temwa Chawinga’s shot that deflected off Ghana’s defender Alice
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It was Temwa’s fourth goal at the tournament and she now trails leading scorer, Zambian Barbara Banda by just a goal.
After a more or less balanced first half, the Scorchers came into the second half with renewed purpose and as time ticked on, the stadium oozed anxiety as they pushed for the winner.
Although Temwa and her France-based sister and captain Tabitha were kept under strict surveillance by the Ghanaians, silent assassins, France-based Rose Kabzere and Faith Chimzimu, who is based in Sweden, rose to the occasion.
Just when it appeared the match would go into extra time, the Scorchers struck the winner. In the 79th minute, Chimzimu found a fruitful avenue on the right and in a blur of action found Kabzere with a pass that oozed class and the latter calmly slotted the ball past the on coming Black Qyeens goalkeeper with a swing of her leg.
Following the win, the Scorchers will face Algeria on Wednesday evening. The Algerians booted out the Ivory Coast 2-1 while the hosts will take on Cameroon in the other semi-final.
The Scorchers now carry the hopes of the Council of Southern Africa Football Association bloc as the only team remaining in the continental showpiece.
In the other quarter-final match played earlier on, Cameroon booted out holders and 10-time champions Super Falcons of Nigeria 1-0.
Thus was the Scorchers’ third win after beating holders and 10-time champions Nigeria 3-2 and Egypt 3-1. They lost to Zambia 2-1 in their final Group C match.
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