Tabitha Chawinga up against fierce contenders nominated for 2024 Best FIFA Women’s Player award

* She is alongside Barbara Banda as the only Africans among the 14 other contenders for the award

* Voting is now open until 10th December and fans can vote through this link: https://www.fifa.com/the-best-fifa-football-awards-2024/en/best-fifa-womens-player

By Duncan Mlanjira

Malawi Scorchers captain Tabitha TC11 Chawinga has been nominated for the 2024 Best FIFA Women’s Player award alongside fierce contenders that include Zambia’s Barbara Banda.

World football governing body, FIFA has opened the voting platform to run till December 10 on which fans can vote through the link: https://www.fifa.com/the-best-fifa-football-awards-2024/en/best-fifa-womens-player.

Chawinga and Barbara Banda are the only Africans among the 16 nominees for the award and are up against fierce contenders, whose resumes are equally impressive as those for both Tabitha and Barbra.

Tabitha is lauded for finishing as the top scorer in the 2023-24 French Division 1 Féminine and also that she was named by the French Professional Footballers’ Association as the best player in the 2023-24 Division 1 Féminine.

Also adding to her credentials is helping her team win the 2023-24 Coupe de France Féminine; runners-up in the 2023-24 French Division 1 Féminine and named in the 2023-24 UEFA Women’s Champions League Team of the Season.

She was also named in the 2023-24 French Division 1 Féminine Team of the Season and in the 2023-24 French Professional Footballers’ Association Team of the Season.

Barbra — who plies her trade in the USA’s National Women Soccer League with Orlando Pride alongside Tabitha’s sister, Temwa of Kansas City Current — is nominated for finishing as joint-second top scorer at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

There she scored a hat-trick against Australia and she is also lauded for scoring 12 goals in her first 12 appearances for Orlando Pride in the US NWSL 2024 season, in which Temwa was voted as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the year.

The other nominees have very high credentials, that include two time Ballon d’Or winner, Aitana Bonmatí, who plays for Spain’s Liga F club Barcelona and Spain national team.

She is recognised for winning the 2023-24 UEFA Women’s Nations League in which she scored in the final and was named the Player of the tournament, she also won the 2023-24 UEFA Women’s Champions League (scored and won the Player of the Match award in the final).

She was Named the 2023-24 UEFA Women’s Champions League Player of the Season as well as the UEFA Women’s Champions League Team of the Season after winning the 2023-24 Spanish Liga F in which her team was named Spanish Liga F Team of the Season.

Lucy Bronze plays for English Women’s Super League club Chelsea and England national team, and is recognised for winning the 2023-24 UEFA Women’s Champions League and her team being named in the 2023-24 UEFA Women’s Champions League Team of the Season.

The other are Naomi Girma who plays for San Diego Waves in the US NWSL; Norwegian Caroline Graham Hansen of Barcelona FC; Lindsey Horan (French Lyon and captain of United States national team); Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars & United States); Keira Walsh (Barcelona & England); Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona & Spain); Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit & United States); Khadija Shaw (Manchester City & Jamaica); Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns & United States); Lauren Hemp (Manchester City & England); Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal & Spain) and Ona Batlle (Barcelona & Spain).

The Chawinga sisters, Tabitha and Temwa have also both made it in on the nominees list of the Confédération of African Football (CAF) Women’s Player of the Year also alongside Barbara Banda.

The coveted CAF awards gala is scheduled on December 16 in Marrakech, Morocco and the CAF Awards 2024 cover the period between January 2024 and October 2024. 

Out of the 10 nominees, six are from the Council for the Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) nations, Tabitha (Olympique Lyonnais, France) & Temwa (Kansas City, US); Barbara Banda (Zambia/Orlando Pride, US); Racheal Kundananji (Zambia/Bay FC, US); Jermaine Seoposenwe (South Africa/Monterrey, Mexico) and Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa/Tigres UANL, Mexico).

The others are Chiamaka Nnadozie (Nigeria/Paris FC, France);  Rasheedat Ajibade(Nigeria/Atletico Madrid, Spain); Sanaa Mssoudy (Morocco/AS FAR, Morocco) and Sandrine Niyonkuru (Burundi/FC Masar, Egypt).

Temwa and Barbra Banda are fierce competitors in the US NWSL as leading goal scorers and both were nominated in the final 5 of the NWSL Most Valuable Player (MVP) 2024 award, which Temwa won.

Meanwhile, Tabitha Chawinga was also nominated for the coveted 2024 Beyond Development Dubai Globe Soccer Best Women’s Player award — earned her spot among an impressive list of 20 female nominees, including football powerhouses Lauren James, Grace Geroyo, Mayra Ramirez and Lucy Bronze.

Currently ranked 16th in the world, Tabitha — who was also nominated for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award — recently scored her 6th goal of the season when Olympique Lyonnais thrashed Saint-Ettienie 11-0 in the French Women’s League.