Chawinga sisters fire debutants into final

August 13, 2026 2:28 am

Sisters Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga combined for all three goals as Malawi beat Algeria 3-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat on Wednesday to reach the final of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, becoming the first tournament debutants since Zimbabwe in 2000 to progress this far in the competition.

The match, officiated by Nigerian referee Yemisi Akintoye, who was making her second appearance at these finals following her assignment for the Senegal-Kenya group game on July 30, produced two first-half red cards and a string of chances at both ends before Malawi held on to book a place in Sunday’s final.

Algeria were reduced to ten players inside the opening half-hour when defender Morgane Belkhiter was sent off, following a VAR review, for denying Malawi captain Tabitha Chawinga a clear goalscoring opportunity. The elder of the two Chawinga sisters made the advantage count in the 33rd minute, executing an acrobatic overhead kick that struck the crossbar before spinning over the line.

Her younger sibling, Temwa, doubled Malawi’s lead in first-half stoppage time, and Algeria’s misery deepened further before the interval when Rose Kadzere’s Malawi team-mate, a defender in the same passage of play, was shown a second red card following another lengthy VAR check for a studs-up lunge, leaving both sides to play out the second half a man light apiece.

Ikram Adjabi briefly gave Algeria hope with a goal after the restart, but Tabitha Chawinga settled the contest with her second of the afternoon, ensuring Malawi held firm to seal a 3-1 victory that extends one of the standout stories of the tournament.

The result means the lowest-ranked side in Morocco has now beaten three established nations, Nigeria, Ghana and Algeria, on their way to a first WAFCON final appearance.

Temwa Chawinga’s brace against Algeria took her tally to four goals at the tournament, and her overall involvement to six, comprising four goals and two assists, level with Zambia’s Barbra Banda for the most goal involvements at the current finals.

For Algeria, the defeat ended a run that had seen them reach their first-ever WAFCON semi-final and qualify for their first FIFA Women’s World Cup, a tournament they will contest in Brazil, the same country that hosted their men’s team’s own World Cup debut in 2014.

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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