Malawi produced one of the biggest upsets in Women’s Africa Cup of Nations history on Sunday, beating Ghana 2-1 to reach the semi finals and qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 for the first time.
Rose Kadzere scored the decisive second half goal to complete another remarkable victory for the Scorchers, who have made an outstanding debut at the tournament.
Malawi had already stunned defending champions Nigeria and beaten Egypt during the group stage. They then topped Group C to set up a quarter final meeting with Ghana.
The Scorchers have now become one of the few debutants to reach the Women’s AFCON semi finals. More importantly, their historic run has secured one of Africa’s four automatic places at next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
For Ghana, the defeat ended their hopes of reaching the semi finals. However, the Black Queens still have a route to Brazil 2027 through the African play off.
Ghana make fast start, but Malawi fight back
The quarter final looked evenly matched before kick-off. Malawi entered the contest with confidence after their impressive group campaign, while Ghana hoped their greater experience would give them an advantage.
The Black Queens started strongly and took the lead after only seven minutes.
Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah finished clinically to give Kim Lars Björkegren’s team an early advantage. Ghana appeared ready to take control, but Malawi quickly responded.
Five minutes later, captain Temwa Chawinga found the equaliser. The star forward continued her excellent tournament with a 12th minute finish that sparked loud celebrations among the Malawian supporters.
The goal changed the game. Both sides pushed forward and created chances, while the importance of the result added further intensity to the contest.
Ghana thought they had restored their lead shortly after half time when Doris Boaduwaa found the net. However, VAR intervened and ruled out the effort.
That decision proved crucial.
Ghana introduced Princella Adubea, Wasila Mohammed and Princess Marfo as they searched for another goal. Yet Malawi’s defence remained organised and continued to frustrate the Black Queens.
The Scorchers also threatened on the counter attack, with the pace and movement of the Chawinga sisters causing problems for Ghana.
Their pressure finally paid off in the 79th minute.
Rose Kadzere found space inside the penalty area and kept her composure to beat the Ghana goalkeeper. Her finish gave Malawi a 2-1 lead and put the debutants within reach of an extraordinary achievement.
Ghana pushed forward during the closing stages and searched desperately for an equaliser. However, Malawi defended with determination and held on until the final whistle.
The victory completes an extraordinary rise for Malawi’s women’s national team. The Scorchers entered their first Women’s Africa Cup of Nations with modest expectations, but they have now reached the semi finals and qualified for their first ever Women’s World Cup.
Before the match, coach Lovemore Fazili urged his players to take the tournament “one step at a time.” Captain Tabitha Chawinga also spoke about the importance of World Cup qualification for women’s football in Malawi.
Their belief has now delivered a historic reward.
After defeating several of Africa’s established teams, Malawi have emerged as one of the continent’s most exciting new forces.
Ghana, meanwhile, still have work to do if they want to return to the Women’s World Cup for the first time since 2007.
The tournament’s qualification system gives the losing quarter finalists another opportunity. The teams will enter an African play off, with the winners advancing to the FIFA Women’s World Cup intercontinental play offs.
Ghana will face Côte d’Ivoire in one of those crucial African play off matches. A victory would keep their hopes of reaching Brazil 2027 alive.
For Malawi, however, Sunday was a day of history.
The Scorchers have gone from Women’s AFCON debutants to World Cup qualifiers in just two weeks. Their remarkable journey now continues in the semi finals, where they will look to add another chapter to one of the tournament’s greatest debut campaigns.
