* Leave NWSL chasing each other in race for Golden Boot being led by the Zambian with 12 goals, four ahead of the Malawian on 3rd place
* Temwa has 8 goals and two assists in nine games played this season in which she started late as she recovered from injury
* COSAFA regional rivals Malawi and Zambia drawn in Group C along with 10-time champions Nigeria and North Africans Egypt
By Duncan Mlanjira
As the rivalry between COSAFA sides, Malawi and Zambia takes a new twist at the continental level — the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAfCON) Morocco 2026 — there will also be one between the two teams’ star players; Temwa Chawinga and Barbra Banda.
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Their nemesis comes from the US National Soccer League (NWSL) in which Temwa plays for Kansas City (KC) Current and Barbra for Orlando Pirates.
Over the past three seasons, the two premier NWSL scorers have been battling against each other the race for the Golden Boot title and they head to the WAfCON Morocco 2026 with the Zambian at the top of the goalscorer leaderboard.
She leads with 12 goals, four ahead of the Malawian on 3rd place. Temwa has netted eight goals and assisted in two in nine games played this season in which she started late as she recovered from injury.
Before she left for the WAfCON, Temwa Chawinga was on target when she helped KC Current secure a convincing 3-0 victory over Denver Summit FC.
In that Matchweek, Barbra — who has 12 goals in 13 matches — was unavailable for Orlando Pride’s match due to injury giving Temwa an opportunity to gain ground in the race for the top scorer award.
Meanwhile, instead of focusing on their WAfCON title aspirations, Zambian fans — as usual — centre their focus on the two rival nations instead of the bigger picture.
The two COSAFA sides will only be in the last group qualifying match with the Scorchers first dating hot title contenders, 10-time holders and reigning champions, Nigeria on July 28 at Al Madina Stadium in Rabat.
It will be followed by Egypt on August 1 at Moulay Hassan Stadium and concluding the group stage against the neighbours and regional rivals Zambia on August 5 at Al Madina Stadium.
Thus the focus for the Copper Queens is to strategise on Egypt and Nigeria first instead of what other fans noted that “Zambia likes demeaning Malawi a lot”.
This came about when a fan trending on Facebook as ‘African Women Soccer Players Abroad’ analysed that the Scorchers narrowly lost to 2-1 to Morocco 2-1 in pre-tournament friendly in Rabat last Thursday and “many Zambians were quick to say, Malawi is finished”.
“Then Zambia drew with Algeria, a team Morocco had comfortably beaten, and suddenly the narrative changed: Algeria is a strong side,” wrote the fan.
“When Malawians pointed out that they were missing a key player against Morocco, many Zambians dismissed it as an excuse. Now, after Zambia’s draw, the same people are saying the Copper Queens were without Barbra Banda.
“If Malawi’s explanation wasn’t accepted, why should Zambia’s be? The reality is that the Copper Queens don’t look ready for this WAfCON.
“They need to stop relying so heavily on Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji. Remember, Zambia defeated Nigeria without both of them because the team played as a unit rather than depending on individual stars.
“That’s the version of Zambia many expected and still expecting to see again. As for the upcoming WAfCON match, I believe Malawi have every chance of getting a result.
“Whether it’s a win or a draw, I don’t expect the Scorchers to lose to this Zambian side,” wrote the fan.
To which Frank Musonda responded, saying the focus for both Zambia and Malawi in the WAfCON “should be on how to get to the full stretch of the tournament and emerge as victors”.
“Debates on which of the two is stronger is not only a sheer waste of time but a distraction from the mission. So for now, focus should be on how to get past the preliminary stage with all opponents in the group in mind.
“After all, Zambians can shift their support to Malawi if Copper Queens fail to qualify to knock-out stage and Malawians can do the same if the Scorchers fail to make it.
“After all, there’s that feeling (or joke) in Zambia that Malawi is an extension of their Eastern province,” said Musonda, and African Women Soccer Players Abroad replied to say: “Zambia likes demeaning Malawi a lot.”
The Scorchers
Muwowo Sundae, however, chose to vilify the Scorchers, despite that Malawi clinched the COSAFA Women’s Championship 2023 title after beating the Copper Queens, by spitefully saying:
“Zambia is way better than Malawi. Zambia has been to WAfCON countless times; Zambia has beaten the same team Malawi is scared of [Nigeria]; Zambia has been to the World Cup, Olympics and are ranked higher than Malawi — these reasons on paper show Zambia is better.”
But Isaac Godfrey chose to differ with Sundae, saying: “We are always running to history whilst the current performance of the Copper Queens has drastically gone down.
“For sure even without the ‘we were a force to reckon with’ but not this time anymore. We heavily rely on the two [Barbra and Kundananji] very much.
“That [5-0] defeat to Nigeria was heavy with the two not even able to seriously test the Nigerian goalkeeper, how so? That was a rude shock, a wake-up call for Zambia.
“Let’s respect other teams and seriously prepare for each we are going to face,” said Godfrey while Happy Ngwira joined in to indicate that African Women Soccer Players Abroad’s analysis does not deny Zambia’s “experience on the international level or their strength in tournaments like these”.
“However, it’s sometimes so nagging how the Zambians demean Malawi. One thing you Zambians should be reminded is that with all the experience Zambia have at international level, they have only won COSAFA trophy which Malawi have also won.
“It’s the only trophy Zambians can brag of. Malawi will not count Zambians experience when the two teams meet, it will be who plays well on the day.”
African Women Soccer Players Abroad summed it up to say: “Trust me, the Scorchers of Malawi are not at the WAfCON just to participate but to compete.
“Even though they lost to Morocco, you can see that there is fighting spirit within the team. They will go far at WAfCON [in their debut appearance].”
Mugeh Andy agreed with that summing up, saying: To be honest, Zambia is ahead of Malawi, but what we should be saying is that Malawi is improving fast to close the gap and when they play each other in this WAfCON expect a tight match that might go either way — that’s my opinion.”
Edda Salima Kantwanje observed that “Malawi don’t talk any evil against Zambia, Malawi just concentrates on it’s own soccer affairs — whether it wins, draws or lose. Of course, Malawi and Zambia have been soccer rivals, that’s why others are comparing the two.”
Amos Nyirenda concluded it all: “We are brothers and sisters. Nditse bantu bamodzi. If Malawi wins, we celebrate; if Zambia wins we celebrate. If both teams reach the finals then we are already winners.”
The tournament has a twist in that the four teams to progress into the semifinals will automatically qualify for the Women’s FIFA World Cup 2027 in Brazil, which is a major carrot for the teams.
The losing quarterfinalists will also have another chance to qualify to the World Cup as they will play an additional play-off round at the Morocco competition to determine two teams that will advance to the intercontinental preliminary stage.
Those play-offs will be staged in February 2027 and feature 10 teams drawn from all six of FIFA’s confederations, with one each from Oceania and Europe.
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