For Malawi, the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will be remembered as the tournament when a team with little continental history suddenly stood among Africa’s best.
At the centre of that remarkable journey was Temwa Chawinga.
The forward has won the WAFCON Golden Boot after scoring five goals, but the award tells only part of her story. Chawinga was not simply the tournament’s leading scorer. She became one of the main figures behind Malawi’s extraordinary run to their first-ever WAFCON final.
Malawi arrived in Morocco as debutants. Few would have expected them to go all the way to the final, especially after being drawn against established sides with much greater experience of the competition.
Yet the Scorchers quickly showed that they were not in Morocco just to make up the numbers.
Chawinga announces herself against Nigeria
One of the clearest signs of what Malawi could achieve came in their opening match against defending champions Nigeria.
Malawi stunned the Super Falcons with a 3-2 victory, and Chawinga was at the heart of the upset.
She scored twice, including a late goal that helped Malawi hold on to one of the biggest victories of their campaign.
Her performance immediately changed the conversation around Malawi. They were no longer simply the newcomers at the tournament. They had become a serious team, and Chawinga had emerged as one of the players opponents needed to watch closely.
Her goals also showed an important part of her game. Chawinga was not waiting for chances to fall her way. She repeatedly used her pace, movement and attacking instincts to create problems for defenders.
From debutants to finalists
Malawi continued to build on that opening statement.
The team eventually reached the final, becoming the first Malawian women’s side to play for the WAFCON title.
The achievement was significant beyond the tournament itself. Their run also secured Malawi a place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, giving the country another historic first.
Chawinga shared the spotlight with her sister, Tabitha, throughout the campaign. The sisters became important figures in Malawi’s attack and helped give the team the confidence to challenge some of the continent’s biggest football nations.
For Temwa, however, the journey had an additional personal reward.
She finished the tournament with five goals and claimed the Golden Boot.
The Golden Boot was not handed to her
There was an extra layer to Chawinga’s achievement.
Four players finished the tournament on five goals, meaning the Golden Boot was decided by the competition’s tiebreak criteria. Chawinga’s two assists gave her the advantage over Zambia’s Barbra Banda, Ivory Coast’s Ines Konan and Cameroon’s Marie Ngah Manga.
That makes the award even more significant.
Chawinga did not win the Golden Boot simply because she scored five times. Her contribution also included creating opportunities for her teammates, underlining how important she was to Malawi’s attacking play.
A Golden Boot after an already remarkable career
The WAFCON award is also another major achievement in a career that had already taken Chawinga to the top of women’s football.
Before arriving in Morocco, she had established herself as one of the leading forwards in the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States.
With Kansas City Current, Chawinga had already won consecutive NWSL Golden Boots and back-to-back league MVP awards. In May 2026, she scored seven goals in six matches and was named the league’s Player of the Month.
Her success in Morocco therefore did not come out of nowhere.
The WAFCON simply provided another stage for a player who had already developed a reputation for scoring goals and producing decisive moments.
The final did not go Malawi’s way
The biggest prize ultimately escaped Chawinga and her teammates.
Cameroon defeated Malawi 3-0 in Sunday’s final in Rabat, with Marie Ngah Manga scoring twice and Naomi Eto adding another goal.
For Malawi, the result ended their dream of winning the trophy on their first appearance.
But the defeat cannot erase what came before it.
A team making its WAFCON debut reached the final, defeated defending champions Nigeria, qualified for the Women’s World Cup and produced the tournament’s leading scorer.
That is a remarkable collection of achievements for one campaign.
Why Chawinga’s story matters
Temwa Chawinga’s Golden Boot is more than an individual award.
It represents the role one outstanding player can play in changing the story of a national team.
Malawi entered the tournament without the history of Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa or Zambia. They leave Morocco having reached a WAFCON final for the first time and qualified for a World Cup for the first time.
And when the records of the 2026 tournament are revisited, Chawinga’s name will sit at the top of the goalscoring chart.
The trophy may belong to Cameroon, but the Golden Boot belongs to Malawi.
For Chawinga, it is another milestone in a career that continues to make her one of the most recognisable footballers to emerge from Malawi.
Her five goals may be the statistic that defines her WAFCON campaign, but the bigger achievement is what those goals helped make possible: a historic tournament for Malawi and a new chapter for women’s football in the country.
