WAFCON 2026: Chawinga sisters propel debutants Malawi to the cusp of ultimate glory
Malawi’s fairytale WAFCON continues with semi-final triumph over Algeria.
Malawi are through to their first-ever WAFCON final after defeating Algeria 3-1 in Rabat on Wednesday night.
The first semi-final match up featured two teams who had never made the last four before. Algeria’s inaugural knockout run ended in the quarter-finals last year, and they have now stumbled a step further as debutants Malawi claimed this chaotic contest.
Both sides had already created history after victory in their quarter-final ties last week secured qualification to the World Cup for the first time. They played this game with freedom and it resulted in a very open start with chances at both ends.
Tabitha Chawinga’s runs in behind were proving particularly fruitful. She had a golden opportunity just nine minutes in, but dragged her effort wide. A better final action might have resulted in a goal a few minutes later, as she sought to square it to her sister Temwa but under hit the pass. Soon enough, though, her efforts made a telling impact, as she drew a foul from Morgane Belkhiter that was deemed to be a denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity after VAR review, resulting in a red card.
It was all Malawi after the sending off and they made it count through Tabitha Chawinga after the half-hour mark. A well-worked corner routine saw a header directed her way while she was standing on the edge of the six-yard box, and she acrobatically redirected it off the crossbar and over the line.
The Scorchers did not let off, relentlessly going at the weakened Algerian defence. Temwa Chawinga doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time, coolly taking the ball around the keeper and slotting it into an empty net after breaching the back line.
Moments later, Rose Kadzere made a needless lunge after the ball to chase her own loose touch, dangerously fouling opposition captain Marine Dafeur. Another VAR review led to another sending off, making it a 10-versus-10 contest.
Just after the break, Algeria had a huge chance as Mélissa Bethi sat the keeper down with a nice bit of composure, but failed to send her effort on target with retreating defenders cutting some angles off. Temwa Chawinga had multiple opportunities that she would expect herself to score, but her finishes were off too.
Malawi’s defending has never been their greatest strength, and it proved a problem after the hour-mark when some substandard work against a set-piece allowed the ball to fall to the feet of Ikram Adjabi, who gleefully converted an open shot from close range.
As the game opened up again, Malawi’s forwards started to look even more dangerous. Tabitha Chawinga hit back about 15 minutes later, restoring her side’s two-goal advantage. They then dropped back and sought to defend their lead, getting the job done despite conceding a few chances.
What defined Malawi’s match?
Attacking intent.
It is no secret that Malawi’s forward line is their greatest strength, and they absolutely leaned into it.
Lovemore Fazili’s side have sought to play direct and feed forward runs throughout this tournament, but they tweaked their out-of-possession approach in this game to maximise their threat on the break. Rather than tracking back to help out their defence, the wingers stayed high to spring counter attacks. Tabitha Chawinga sometimes even positioned herself alongside Temwa, thus getting a couple of big chances early on.
Malawi’s “all gas no brakes” approach served them well when they built up a lead after the first red card, but it perhaps contributed to their sending off too. Forward Rose Kadzere needlessly lunged in to challenge for a loose ball with barely seconds of stoppage time left before the end of the first half. That made the second period a lot more stressful than it needed to be, and will also leave the Scorchers without a key player in the final.
What defined Algeria’s match?
An inability to establish control.
Of the two teams in this contest, Algeria were the ones better suited to keeping the ball. In fact, they have kept the majority of possession in each of their last three games, and were only edged out 52%-48% by Senegal in their opener.
The Fennecs did have more of the possession in the opening stages, but they didn’t retain the ball for long sequences and kept getting threatened in transitions. Of course, it is almost impossible to stop Malawi’s superstar forwards once they get going, and Algeria learned that the hard way.
Algeria were almost gifted a second chance after Kadzere’s sending off, but again could not prevent the game from opening up as they pushed for an equaliser. They couldn’t pose a big enough attacking threat when they kept their full-backs deep to stop counters, but were almost always punished whenever they tried to send them forward.
Of course, stopping the Chawinga sisters is easier said than done, but with the benefit of hindsight, Algeria may have benefited from taking a more patient approach in this game.
Something you might have missed
Malawi are the first debutants to reach the WAFCON final in the competition’s history (excluding the inaugural edition of the tournament, of course). This is the their first appearance at any major tournament, while their men’s team only have three AFCON appearances under their belt and have not progressed further than the round of 16 in 2021.
Should they get over the line on the final step, Malawi will become the first team since South Africa’s men’s side in 1996 to win an AFCON on debut.
What next?
Algeria will feature in a third-place play-off on Saturday, but all the anticipation will build towards Malawi’s final against either Morocco or Cameroon on Sunday night at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium.
*Stats from FotMob.
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