Asimenye at the Commonwealth Games (top) and on arrival in Morocco
* Where she advanced to the semi-finals in both the 200m and 400m events before her campaign came to an end
* She strengthens coach Lovemore Fazili’s attacking options along with the Chawinga sisters, Temwa and Tabitha
* Ahead of the final game against Zambia on Wednesday they just need a draw to qualify for the knockout quarterfinals in their debut appearance
By Duncan Mlanjira
Multi-talented Asimenye Simwaka, MDF Lionesses FC’s forward and the country’s top track athlete, has joined Malawi Scorchers at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAfCON) Morocco 2026 after completing her duties at the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2026.
Advertisement
She joins the squad ahead of the Scorchers’ final Group D match against Zambia that they need a draw to record a further milestone of reaching the knockout quarterfinals in their debut appearance.
She strengthens coach Lovemore Fazili’s attacking options along with the Chawinga sisters, Temwa (Kansas City Current-USA) and Tabitha (Olympique Lyonnais-France), Sabina Thom (Phoenix Academy Marrakesh-Morocco), Chisomo Banda (Konkola Blades Queens-Zambia), Deborah Henry (Silver Strikers Ladies), Mary Chavinda (Nyasa Big Bullets Women) and Fatima Ali (Ascent Soccer).
At the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2026 Asimenye advanced to the semi-finals in both the 200m and 400m events before her campaign came to an end.
She narrowly missed out on a place in the women’s 200m final after finishing eighth in a tightly contested semi-final with a time of 23.71 seconds.
Despite the disappointment, Simwaka can take pride in an outstanding campaign that included a personal best in the heats and another strong performance against some of the Commonwealth’s top sprinters.
Her 400m campaign came to an unfortunate end after she was disqualified for violating World Athletics Technical Rule 17.2.3 when she found herself outside her allocated lane towards the finish as she negotiated a bend.
In the 200m semifinal, after finishing fourth in Heat 6 with a personal best time of 23.60 seconds, Asimenye concluded it finishing 8th with a time of 23.71 seconds, missing out on the final round.
The multi-talented athlete thus traveled directly to Morocco to link up with the Scorchers in their campaign to make further history after beating 10-time winners and defending champions Nigeria 3-2 in their debut match and triumphing 3-1 over Egypt in the second.
The from the six goals scored, three are from Temwa (two against Nigeria and one from the win over Egypt) and one each from Tabitha (against Nigeria), Rose Kadzere and Faith Chinzimu in the game against the Cleopatras.
Results and fixtures (kick-off times CAT beamed live on SuperSport live on DStv Channel 225 (https://dstv.stream) and on GOtv Channel 61 (https://gotv.stream):
Group stages
Group A
Algeria 2-0 Senegal
Morocco 4-0 Kenya
Thursday, July 30
Senegal 1-0 Kenya
Morocco 1-0 Algeria
Monday, August 3
Senegal v Morocco (22h00)
Kenya v Algeria (22h00)
Group B
South Africa 1-2 Tanzania
Côte d’Ivoire 4-1 Burkina Faso
South Africa 2-2 Côte d’Ivoire
Burkina Faso 2-1 Tanzania
Tuesday, August 4
Burkina Faso v South Africa (22h00)
Tanzania v Côte d’Ivoire (22h00)
Group C
Zambia 6-0 Egypt
Nigeria 3-2 Malawi
Egypt 1-3 Malawi
Nigeria 1-9 Zambia
Wednesday, August 5
Egypt v Nigeria (22h00)
Malawi v Zambia (22h00)
Standings
Group D
Today, July 29
Ghana 2-0 Cape Verde
Cameroon 2-1 Mali
Today, August 2
Ghana 0-1 Cameroon
Mali v Cape Verde (22h00)
Thursday, August 6
Mali v Ghana (22h00)
Cape Verde v Cameroon (22h00)
Quarterfinals
Saturday, August 8
QF 2: Winner Group B v 2nd Place Group A (19h00)
QF 1: Winner Group A v 2nd Place Group B (22h00)
Sunday, August 9
QF 4: Winner Group D v 2nd Place Group C (19h00)
QF 3: Winner Group C v 2nd Place Group D (22h00)
Semifinals
Wednesday, August 12
SF2: Winner QF2 v Winner QF3 (19h00)
SF1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF4 (22h00)
World Cup 2027 play-off matches
Thursday, August 13
Loser QF2 v Loser QF3 (19h00)
Loser QF1 v Loser QF4 (22h00)
Third place play-off
Saturday, August 15
Loser SF1 v Loser SF2 (19h00)
WAfCON 2026 final
Sunday, August 16
Winner SF1 v Winner SF2 (Moulay Hassan Stadium or Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, (21h00)
Advertisement