Kolkata: The Chawinga sisters are making history for Malawi on the biggest stage. In their WAFCON debut match, Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga delivered a performance that will be remembered for generations. They’ve scored all three goals for Malawi in their 3-2 victory against Nigeria.
The Chawinga sisters are from Rumphi, a rural district in northern Malawi, Tabitha and Temwa were two of five children. Growing up, there were no girls’ teams in their area, so they played with village boys.
At 13, Tabitha faced one of the worst moments in her career. Opponents forced her to undress on the pitch because they refused to believe a girl could play that well. Her parents also did not support her playing football and she was physically punished for continuing to persue the sport. Temwa later said “our mum did not allow us to play, but we didn’t listen to them.”
Determind to find opportunity, the sisters eventually made the 400km journey from Rumphi to the capital, lilongwe, just to find an actual girls’ football club. The national scouts were amazed and they could not believe it was possible for a family to have two good players.
Tabitha made the breakthrough first and later helped Temwa follow the same path. She got her into the same club and later recommended her to her club in sweden. Today, Tabitha plays for one of Europe’s biggest clubs, Lyon, while Temwa plays in the NWSL for Kansas City as the world’s top scorer with 63 goals. The two sisters now support the same family that once tried to stop them from playing football.
They eventually reached the biggest stage of their careers, representing Malawi at WAFCON. Their historic moment came in Malawi’s first-ever match at the tournament. Ranked 153rd in the world against Nigeria’s 36th, Malawi faced the biggest ranking gap of the competition. Nigeria, the most successful team in African women’s football with 10 WAFCON titles, had also never lost to a debutant nation since the tournament began in 1998.
None of that mattered. The match was goalless at halftime before Temwa Chawinga scored in the 73rd minute. Six minutes later, Tabitha doubled Malawi’s lead. Nigeria’s captain pulled one back through a stoppage-time penalty, but Temwa made it 3-1 just three minutes later, Nigeria scored another late consolation goal, but and the match ended with a historical 3-2 victory. Malawi must now focus on their next match against Egypt, where they will try to build on this unforgettable start and continue their fight to even more history at WAFCON.
