From despair to glory: Malawi’s WAFCON dream realized, it was weight of Faith

Twenty-five minutes into the match, the dream teetered on the edge of collapse. The Malawi Women’s Football National Team, the Scorchers, found themselves ensnared in Angola’s defensive web, each attack dissolving like morning mist against an impenetrable fortress. The weight of expectation pressed down upon Bingu National Stadium—heavy, suffocating, merciless.

Yet hope, that most stubborn of human emotions, refused to surrender. On the Western stands, the faithful kept their vigil, their voices rising in defiant chorus even as doubt crept through the stadium like shadows at dusk.

Then came the final ten minutes—a crescendo of ecstasy that would etch itself into the annals of Malawian football history. When the final whistle pierced the air, the stadium erupted in jubilation. “Team ibwere, ibwere team!” the supporters sang, summoning their heroines to share in the triumph. History had been written in sweat and tears: Malawi had qualified for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

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The Football Association of Malawi’s hierarchy—President Fleetwood Haiya, General Secretary Abdul Chiwaya, First Vice President Madalitso Kuyera, and Second Vice President Dr. Lameck Khonje—abandoned all pretense of dignified restraint. They descended from their seats like children racing toward Christmas morning, joining the players in a celebration that transcended mere sport.

This qualification was no accident, no stroke of fortune plucked from thin air. It was the culmination of years of patient cultivation, beginning with the Cosafa Cup triumph of 2023—that first green shoot of belief. Investment had been sown like seeds in fertile ground, and now the harvest had arrived.

The euphoria spilled beyond the stadium’s confines. Fans escorted the team’s bus through Lilongwe’s streets, creating a traffic jam of joy that paralyzed the capital. The city itself seemed to pause, caught in the amber of this singular moment.

The Football Association of Malawi had courted the National Bank of Malawi, securing approximately MK1 billion for women’s football—a sum that bankrolled not just dreams but the nation’s first-ever Women’s Football League. This was investment as act of faith.

“We invested in these girls,” President Haiya declared, his voice carrying the satisfaction of vindication. “We played against Morocco, Zambia, South Africa—we were losing in friendly matches against these heavyweights. Some people were laughing at us, but we knew that we were learning from that. This is the result.”

He added with patriotic fervor: “Congratulations to the girls, and this is also a congratulatory message to the newly elected State President, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika. He needs to see these girls for himself.”

“The ghosts of failures past”

The path to this moment had been paved with heartbreak and controversy. Malawi had waited months before facing Angola, advancing to the second round only after Congo’s withdrawal due to inadequate preparation. The wound of 2022 still ached—when Zambia extinguished their WAFCON dreams with a 4-3 aggregate defeat in the qualifiers.

But it was the 2024 withdrawal that cut deepest. Financial constraints forced FAM to pull out of WAFCON qualifiers, triggering fierce criticism from the nation, including from the team’s brightest stars—the Chawinga sisters, Temwa and Tabitha.

“We always play the Cosafa tournament due to funding issues,” Temwa had told BolaNews, her frustration palpable. “So I have told them [FAM] that going forward they should not involve me to play at Cosafa. Enough of that.”

Those words had stung like salt in an open wound. But redemption, when it finally arrived, proved all the sweeter for the bitterness that preceded it.

Coach Lovemore Fazili had walked a tightrope throughout this campaign. His position hung by a thread; failure meant dismissal. The friendly matches—two against Zambia, two against South Africa, one each against Morocco and Ghana, two against Lesotho—had yielded a sobering record: five losses, three victories. Each defeat was a lesson purchased at the price of pride.

Yet Fazili remained resolute. When Temwa Chawinga fell to injury in the eleventh hour, many saw catastrophe. The coach saw opportunity.

After a goalless draw in Angola, he spoke with the confidence of a man who had glimpsed the future: “Tomorrow, we are going to do everything to qualify for WAFCON. This is our chance. We wanted to finish the game in Angola, but we missed several chances, and I’m sure that we will take those chances and make history.”

There was storm before the calm

The first half at Bingu National Stadium was an exercise in anxiety. Angola arrived as predators, all teeth and claws. Lacho Flora and Patricia Seteco tormented Malawi’s defense, their movements fluid and menacing. Fazili stood rigid in the dugout, unable to sit, barking instructions like a conductor desperate to tame a discordant orchestra.

Malawi’s 4-4-2 formation faltered. Sabina Thoma partnered with Tabitha Chawinga up front, while Asimenye Simwaka and Vanessa Chikupira occupied the flanks. But with three natural strikers—Tabitha, Sabina, and Asimenye—crowding the attack, fluidity became friction.

Angola exploited every gap. Flora danced past defenders and rifled a shot over the bar. A penalty appeal was waved away. Then came the controversial penalty—Seteco’s attempt rattled the upright, and Malawi exhaled collectively, reprieve granted by millimeters.

Tabitha stretched herself across the pitch, a captain willing her team forward through sheer force of character. Yet Malawi found themselves trapped in a predictable pattern: playing wide, delivering crosses that Angola defended with ease. The gap between midfield and attack yawned like a canyon.

Fazili acted decisively at the interval. Rose Kabzere and Sabina Thoma departed; Leticia Chinyamula and Chisomo Banda entered. The second half began with renewed intent, though fortune continued its coy dance.

Tabitha surged down the left after a Faith Chinzimu pass, her cross finding Simwaka at the far post—but the tap-in never came. Frustration flickered across Tabitha’s face, but the captain refused to let it spread like contagion.

Fazili’s next adjustment proved inspired. Tendai Sani replaced Chikupira. Chinzimu pushed forward as a number 10, Tabitha drifted left, and suddenly Malawi had someone to collect the loose balls and rebounds—someone to provide faithin both name and deed.

The 81st minute: Tabitha beat her marker on the left, her cut-back finding Faith Chinzimu in position. The midfielder directed the ball into the bottom left corner. Pure delirium erupted—a release of years of accumulated tension.

But Faith wasn’t finished. Minutes later, Simwaka’s cross from the right found her left foot. The deflection wrong-footed the goalkeeper. Two-nil. History secured.

At the final whistle, players collapsed in tears—not of sorrow but of overwhelming joy. The weight of history, carried for so long, finally lifted.

“Fazili ‘extremely’ Happy with victory”

Coach Fazili, measured in triumph, reflected: “I’m extremely happy with the results. We were all expecting this time to arrive. It wasn’t an easy win because Angola is a good team. Winning two-nil wasn’t an easy task, and I have to appreciate the players and the entire technical panel, most especially the leadership of my captain, Tabitha Chawinga. I think her impact was clear.”

He continued with gratitude: “I have to thank the Football Association for giving us almost eight friendly matches against big teams—these matches really helped us—and the National Bank of Malawi, who are our sponsors and also sponsoring the National League. It has improved our football.”

Captain Tabitha Chawinga, ever gracious, echoed her coach: “I’m very happy with the win and also the qualification. We are going to Morocco next year, and we are happy to write this history. We thank the Football Association for investing much into women’s football. We have been losing some games, a lot has been said, but we know that your anger means that you love the team.”

This qualification transcends sport. It represents validation of the progress made since the 2023 COSAFA triumph. It is proof incarnate that investment in women’s football—in belief itself—can yield transformative results.

For Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga, who have dazzled at club level but been denied recognition due to limited national team opportunities, the stage now awaits. Morocco 2026 will be their canvas.

From heartbreak to euphoria. From criticism to celebration. From doubt to destiny.

The Scorchers are going to WAFCON.

And Malawi will never forget the night Faith Chinzimu made believers of them all.