The Malawi women's national football team, nicknamed the Scorchers, represents Malawi in international women's association football. Established in the early 2000s and controlled by the Football Association of Malawi (FAM), the team qualified for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 2026, placing second. Its most notable achievements are winning the 2023 COSAFA Women's Championship and qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Contents
History
2002–2010: Formation and early years
The Malawi women's national football team was established in the early 2000s, during a period when many African nations were forming women's teams. Malawi made its first appearance on the international stage in April 2002, participating in the inaugural COSAFA Women's Championship held in Harare, Zimbabwe. In their first official match on 20 April 2002, they were defeated 8–0 by neighboring Zambia. The team recorded its first victory in the following match, defeating Lesotho 3–0, before losing to the hosts in the final match of the tournament.
In 2004, Malawi took part in its first qualifying campaign for the African Women's Championship, advancing past Uganda by walkover before losing 9–0 on aggregate to Ethiopia. A second attempt in 2006 was unsuccessful, although the team earned its first point with a scoreless draw against Benin in the second leg. From that period until the 2010s, Malawi competed primarily at the regional level, participating in the COSAFA Women's Championship.
2011–2018: Building phase
In 2011, during the fourth COSAFA Women's Championship, Malawi made history by qualifying for the semi-finals for the first time. However, losses to South Africa and Tanzania left the team in fourth place. The following year, Malawi participated in the African Women's Championship qualifiers and recorded its first-ever victory in a continental qualifying match by defeating Zambia 4–2, overturning a heavy first-leg defeat. The team then went on a three-year hiatus before returning in 2015, when they played a friendly against Tanzania. A similar situation occurred in 2016, with only a single match played throughout the year.
The return of the COSAFA Women's Championship in 2017, and its transition to an annual event, proved crucial in providing competitive matches for the She-Flames. Although the team was eliminated in the group stage in both 2017 and 2018, the number of games played tripled compared to the previous two years.
2019–present: Breakthrough years
In 2019, Malawi participated in its first Olympic Games qualifying tournament, defeating Mozambique 11–1 and 3–0 across the two legs to advance to the first round. At that year's COSAFA Women's Championship, Malawi recorded two wins out of three matches, including a notable 13–0 victory against Comoros. Although the team was eliminated by Kenya in the first round of Olympic qualifying, their performance demonstrated significant progress.
In January 2020, the team's nickname was officially changed to "the Scorchers", distinguishing them from the men's team, known as "the Flames". Increased match experience led to improved results and a narrowing gap with top Southern African sides. In 2021, Malawi reached the final of the COSAFA Championship, narrowly losing to Tanzania. Later that year, the team participated in the 2022 WAFCON qualifiers, facing regional rivals Zambia; although Malawi was eliminated after the second-leg loss, the results reflected continued improvement.
In September 2023, as preparation for that year's regional tournament, Malawi played two friendly matches against Seychelles, winning both 17–0, marking their largest victories to date. During the tournament itself, Malawi went undefeated and captured their first COSAFA Women's Championship title, significantly raising the team's profile and paving the way for more fixtures. While they failed to defend their title in 2024, the federation arranged additional matches, and in 2025 the team played eight international friendlies, a record for the side. In October 2025, Malawi achieved a historic milestone by qualifying for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations for the first time, defeating Angola over a two-leg aggregate in the final qualifying round.
On August 9, 2026, the team were in Rabat in Morocco at the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations. Temwa Chawinga had scored an equaliser against Ghana and Mercy Sikelo's goalkeeping was solid. Rose Kadzere scored Malawi's second goal, which won them a place in the semi-finals. More historically it earned a place for the Malawian team in the FIFA Women's World Cup. Malawi has never competed before at that level. Malawi joined Algeria, Morocco and Cameroon to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil; they were the lowest ranked national team to compete at either a men's or women's World Cup at FIFA rank 153.
The team made the final of the WAFCON competition where they were beaten by Cameroon. As runners-up the team won $750,000. Their debut run was lauded. The First Lady, Gertrude Mutharika, hosted a luncheon at the Kamuzu Presidential Palace on 20 August 2026, where she announced that each player was to receive 5 million kwacha from the President. Airtel also gave each player a router and a year of free data.
Coaching staff
As of July 2024
Managers history
Temwa Msuku (2012)
Thom Mkorongo (2015)
Maggie Chombo-Sadiki (2016–2018)
Stuart Mbolembole (2018)
Abel Mkandawire (2019)
McNebert Kazuwa (2020–2021)
Lovemore Fazili (2023–)
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win
Draw
Lose
Fixture
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations from July 26 to August 16 in Morocco.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up to a squad within the past 12 months.
Previous squads
COSAFA Women's Championship
2020 COSAFA Women's Championship squad
2022 COSAFA Women's Championship squad
2023 COSAFA Women's Championship squad
Malawi records and statistics
Malawi player sent off: - (2 times)
Sungeni Msiska - v South Africa, 6 July 2011 (44th minute)
Rose Alufandika - v Egypt, 1 August 2026 (52nd minute)
Biggest win: 17 - (2 times)
v Seychelles, 25 September 2023
v Seychelles, 28 September 2023
Biggest defeat: 8 - v Zambia, 20 April 2002
Most appearances: 17 - Chimwemwe Madise - 2020–present
Top goalscorer: 27 - Tabitha Chawinga - 2011–present
Longest winning streak: 7 - from 25 September 2023 to 15 October 2023
Longest unbeaten streak: 10 - from 25 September 2023 to 28 October 2024
Longest losing streak: 4 - (2 times)
from 24 April 2002 to 19 February 2006
from 5 April 2025 to 21 June 2025
Longest winless streak: 5 - (2 times)
from 24 April 2002 to 26 February 2006
from 11 April 2026 to 16 July 2026
Longest goalless streak: 477 minutes - from 24 April 2002 to 23 August 2006
Competitive record
FIFA Women's World Cup
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
Olympic Games
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.