Banda, Chawinga lead early Golden Boot race

August 4, 2026 1:49 am

Zambia captain Barbra Banda and Malawi forward Temwa Chawinga have emerged as the early front-runners for the Golden Boot at the ongoing 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, both forwards inspiring notable results for their countries in the opening round of group matches.

Banda leads the scoring charts with four goals and one assist after inspiring Zambia to a 6-0 demolition of Egypt in their Group C opener at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat.

The Orlando Pride forward, who was directly involved in five of Zambia’s six goals, opened her account when Racheal Nachula converted a first-half penalty won after Banda was fouled inside the box, before taking over in the second half. She converted a penalty of her own in the sixtieth minute, headed home a cross three minutes later, and completed her hat-trick from a goalmouth scramble before adding a fourth late on, finishing off a Racheal Kundananji cross. Eneless Phiri added a fifth for the Copper Queens in stoppage time.

Chawinga, for her part, produced one of the shocks of the tournament so far, scoring a hat-trick as debutants Malawi stunned 10-time champions Nigeria 3-2 in a dramatic Group C encounter.

The Kansas City Current forward, back-to-back winner of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Most Valuable Player award, netted Malawi’s first-ever goal at the finals before completing her treble with a stoppage-time winner.

Although they still lead, Chawinga and Banda failed to score in their second group stage games.

Cameroon’s Marie Ngah Manga rounds out the early Golden Boot picture with three goals and no assists.

Elsewhere in the tournament, hosts Morocco have made the perfect start in Group A, winning both their opening matches without conceding a goal, 4-0 against Kenya and 1-0 against Algeria, to become the first side to secure a quarter-final berth.

Morocco captain Ghizlane Chebbak, chasing what would be a hat-trick of individual Golden Boot awards, is hoping to guide the Atlas Lionesses to a maiden title on home soil, having finished as runners-up in the last two editions of the competition.

The record for the most goals scored by an individual at a single edition of the tournament stands at 11, set by Nigeria’s Perpetua Nkwocha in 2010, a mark that has remained unmatched for 16 years.

Peter Akinbo

Peter, who has been covering sports for PUNCH for close to two years, focuses on combat sports reporting, special features and human angle stories

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