Ascent Soccer win second European youths’ Rey Cup

* Also reached in the knockout rounds of Gothia Cup, bringing home plenty of evidence that the next generation is ready for the global stage

* Following the footsteps of Malawi Scorchers’ Rose Kadzere, Faith Chinzimu, Leticia Chinyamula, Maggie Chavula and Ireen Khumalo

* And 18-year-old Mwisho Mhango, who was in the squad for Germany’s Hannover’s Bundesliga 2 opener last weekend and is expected to get his opportunity soon

By Duncan Mlanjira

The U14 boys and U16 girls football teams of Ascent Soccer — Malawi’s most successful football academy — have returned from a landmark month in Europe bringing home another Rey Cup title, a place in the Gothia Cup knockout rounds and plenty of evidence that the next generation is ready for the global stage.

The trip was supported in partnership with the Embassy of Iceland in Malawi and sponsorship from the country’s leading diversified financial services provider, NICO Group, which recently announced that it will deeply invest into the academy’s mission of creating life-changing opportunities for talented young Malawians through football, education and leadership development.

In a statement, Ascent Soccer reports that across Iceland and Sweden, the U14 boys and U16 girls played a combined 31 matches and scored 97 goals, competing against some of Europe’s leading youth programs.

The U16 boys claimed their second Rey Cup, whose first was won in 2023, while the U16 girls reached the tournament final before falling to Bayern Munich — one of the world’s leading female development programmes.

Prior to the Rey Cup, the squads visited Sweden for the Gothia Cup, where both the U14 boys and U16 girls reached the Round of 16 — and with a few different bounces of the ball, either side could’ve made a title run.

Along the way, the squads also played friendlies against Ascent Soccer’graduate, Faith Chinzimu’s Swedish club, Häcken, as well as against Fram, Stjarnan and Grótta, “giving the players an opportunity to test themselves against a wide range of European opposition”.

“There were plenty of standout performances. Ruben led the boys with 20 goals, while 14-year-old Rosa scored an incredible 15 goals for the U16 girls,” says the statement.

“The U14 boys also produced one of the tour’s most impressive results, drawing with FH Hafnarfjörður in the Gothia group stage. The Icelandic side would ultimately go on to win the event.

“For the U16 girls, the final friendly of the tour brought another statement performance, with a convincing victory over Stjarnan. But perhaps the biggest story is what these performances represent for the future.”

Ascent Soccer has produced brilliant stars to Europe and the USA, such as Faith-Chinzimu, the first Malawian to win a European championship with BK Häcken Women in Sweden; Zobran-Elias, a neuroscience graduate from Trinity College in the United States; and  Mwisho-Mhango, now playing professionally with Hannover 96 in Germany — as examples of the academy’s growing impact.

It has also produced Rose Kadzere, now at Montpellier in France, who is in the Malawi Scorchers’ squad — along with Chinzimu, Leticia Chinyamula, Maggie Chavula and Ireen Khumalo — who are in team that have achieved the greatest milestone of qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 and are within clinching a historic Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAfCON) title.

Meanwhile, Mwisho (18) was in the squad for Hannover’s Bundesliga 2 opener last weekend, and is expected to get his opportunity soon.

Now, a new generation is racing its way to the next top level: “The European results matter; the goals matter; the trophy matters — but what matters most is seeing Malawian players increasingly comfortable competing against some of the best young footballers in Europe.

“And, of course, the month was about more than football. From carrying the Malawi flag in front of 55,000 people at the Gothia opening ceremony to the Liseberg amusement park, swimming in the sea, riding trains and experiencing cinemas, water slides and footgolf for the very first time, our student-athletes discovered that opportunity is also about expanding their sense of what’s possible — and realising they have a place, that they’ve earned, in a much bigger world.

“The next generation is here — and they’re ready to make their mark,” says Ascent Soccer in the statement.