Captain Temwa Chawinga won the Player of the Tournament award at the COSAFA Women’s Championship
* Four behind South Africa’s Sibulele Holweni who lead with 13 goals and one behind her archrival in US National Women Soccer League, Zambia’s Barbra Banda
* All of Temwa’s goals were achieved when she captained the Scorchers to their first-ever COSAFA Women’s Championship title in 2023
By Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express & COSAFA Media
Malawi Scorchers’ forward, Temwa Chawinga is the 3rd leading goalscorer in the past 5 COSAFA Women’s Championships with 9 goals, four behind South Africa’s Sibulele Holweni, who lead with 13 goals she attained from two editions.
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And she is one goal behind her archrival in the US National Women Soccer League (NWSL), Zambia’s Barbra Banda, who has 10 achieved in 2022 when she helped the Copper Queens to their maiden COSAFA title.
All of Temwa’s goals were scored when she captained the Scorchers to their first-ever COSAFA Women’s Championship title in 2023 in which she dominated the scoring charts, netting almost double the next highest players in 2024, Zambians Ochumba Lubanji and Fridah Mukoma.
The COSAFA Women’s Championship 2025 will be played from Wednesday, February 18-March 1, a tournament that has become a hugely popular fixture on the COSAFA calendar, not least for the quality of the football, but also the entertainment value, with some star names lighting up the competition and going on to shine on the global stage.
Temwa has since gone on to be a star in the NWSL with Kansas City Current, and broke the record for the most goals scored in a single season in the competition’s history when she netted 20 in 2024, announcing herself as a global star.
She was named the NWSL’s Most Valuable Player in both 2024 and 2025, winning the Golden Boot in both years — ahead of the archrival, Barbra Banda, who plays for Orlando Pride.
In the COSAFA Women’s Championship 2023, Temwa scored a hat-trick in the epic 4-3 win over South Africa in group stages and got four more in an 8-0 win over eSwatini before netting twice in the 3-1 semi-final win over Mozambique.
She did not score in the final when the Scorchers beat defending champions Zambia 2-1 to lift the title.
At the age of 27, COSAFA describes her as a player with still much growth in her in the coming years — but an injury she sustained during her Kansas City Current’s match against Houston Dash last October rules her out of the COSAFA.
The injury also saw her miss the 2-1 triumph on aggregate against Angola that qualified the Scorchers to their first-ever Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAfCON) scheduled on October 23.
South Africa claimed the last of their record seven regional titles at the 2020 edition, though on this occasion without many of their established stars — but that allowed new names to emerge and one of those was Sibulele Holweni, who caught the eye with her clinical touch in the box.
Sibulele Holweni (left)
After scoring in a 5-0 win over eSwatini, she grabbed five goals in a 7-0 victory over Comoros and continued that form in the knockout stages with goals against Malawi and Botswana respectively in the semi-finals and final.
Holweni, who plays for the University of the Western Cape and remains a fixture in the national team, repeated her feat of winning the Golden Boot in 2021, though this time she managed five goals — which COSAFA Media described as not bad for a player who now regularly turns out at left-back.
She grabbed a brace in a 3-1 win over Mozambique in the pool stages, before getting another two in the 3-2 semi-final loss to Malawi. That put South Africa in the bronze-medal match against Zambia and Holweni was on target again, though Banyana Banyana ultimately lost on penalties as she missed the vital kick.
Still only 24, she has a long international career ahead of her and will likely be a key player for Banyana Banyana, having featured at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. The former Under-17 national team captain recently helped the University of the Western Cape win the CAF Women’s Champions League-COSAFA qualifier and book a place at the continental finals.
The 10 goals that Zambia’s goalscoring machine Barbra Banda attained in the 2022 edition helped the Copper Queens to their maiden COSAFA title and she also scored in the final against South Africa in 2022.
Barbra Banda
That was double the number of anyone else as she dominated defences and has become a global star too after two hat-tricks at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and netting in Zambia’s 3-1 victory over Costa Rica at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
Barbra Banda in action against United States during the Olympic Games Paris 2024
She scored a brace against Namibia at the COSAFA 2022 and followed that up with five goals in the 7-0 success against Lesotho before adding one more in the 2-0 victory over eSwatini.
She netted again in the 2-1 semi-final win over Tanzania before her winner in extra time of the final against South Africa, sealing the unique achievement of having scored in every game of the competition.She was the first African player to be included in the prestigious FIFPRO Women’s World XI in 2024. Still only 25, she is has been a huge hit at Orlando Pride in the NWSL.
Ochumba Lubanji (top) and Fridah Mukoma
The COSAFA 2024 edition produced two Golden Boot award winners, Zambians Ochumba Lubanji and Fridah Mukoma as they scored four goals each in helping the Copper Queens to the 2nd regional title.
Lubandji netted in the 3-0 group-stage win over Angola, and then got two as Zambia thumped Comoros 7-0. Her fourth goal was in the 2-0 semi-final win over Malawi while Mukoma also scored in that last-four clash to go with a hat-trick against Comoros.
Lubandji made two substitute appearances at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and featured at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris.
Mukoma moved overseas to Beijing FC in China before a transfer to Kansas City Current and then a loan back with Beijing. Still only 19 years old, she has a big future in the game.
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