Exclusive: Temwa Chawinga Calls Out Malawian FA Over 2024 WAFCON Miss

United States-based striker and Malawi's Temwa Chawinga is disappointed that her country will not be represented in the continent's biggest women's football competition, the 2024 CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), which will take place in Morocco from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.

WAFCON DRAW 

Last Friday, CAF conducted the draw for the 12-nation tournament, placing host Morocco in Group A alongside Zambia, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nigeria, the 11-time winners, are in Group B with Tunisia, Algeria, and Botswana, while South Africa, the defending champions, are in Group C with Ghana, Mali, and Tanzania.

Malawi did not participate in the qualification phase due to financial constraints, according to the Football Association of Malawi (FAM), and Temwa is disappointed.

“I feel so bad not participating in such a big tournament,” Temwa told SportsBoom.co.za. “Maybe they [the Football Association of Malawi] can go to Zambia and learn how women's football works or something. Because Zambia enters every competition, big competitions. But for us in Malawi, it's just COSAFA, which we know.” 

Temwa is unsure of where women's football is headed in her country.

“I don't know; to say the truth, I don't know what they think about women's football in Malawi. It's like they just concentrate on men’s football only, so I don't know exactly where women’s football is heading, but as I said, maybe they should go to Zambia and learn something about how things work there for women.” 

APPEAL TO MALAWI GOVERNMENT

Temwa surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, and Kylian Mbappe to lead the world goal-scoring rankings in 2023, having scored 63 goals in all competitions for Chinese Women's Super League team Wuhan Jianghan University FC and her country.

After joining the Kansas City Current this year, she won the Golden Boot in the 2024 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) with 21 goals in 27 games but despite all that, she is yet to represent her country at the highest level.

Temwa has since urged the Malawian government to support women's football, which can empower many girls in the country.

“I think the President [of Malawi] needs to give women’s football financial support because there is so much talent in Malawi, which can empower most girls if supported. 

“We now have some Malawian players playing in France, Zambia, DR Congo, and myself here in the USA. So I think if maybe we put a lot of money into women's football, I think the national team is going to be strong and also participate in big tournaments like the World Cup and WAFCON.”

LOOKING AHEAD 

With her country not participating in any major international competition next year, Temwa will be watching from the terraces, hoping Zambia wins the WAFCON. 

“I would like our neighboring country, Zambia, to win WAFCON because we speak the same language. So I wish Zambia to win and my friends Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji to win it.” 

Malawi has never competed in an international competition other than the COSAFA, a regional tournament for Southern African countries, which they won for the first time in 2023, with Temwa scoring 9 goals to lead her country to a historic triumph.

This year, they advanced to the semifinals of the same tournament without Temwa and her elder sister Tabitha Chawinga, who plays for Lyon in France, but were ousted by eventual champions Zambia.