Tournament debutantes Malawi made history in emphatic style after registering a stunning 3-1 win over Algeria in the WAFCON 2026 semi-final on Wednesday evening.
A rampant display from the Scorchers saw them become the first debutant team since the tournament’s inception to reach the final of the prestigious regional competition.
The victory was built on the prolific attacking prowess of their formidable striker tandem, Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga, who both scored goals as Malawi made history.
The victory over Algeria was built on a rampant display from both teams with both seeing red cards shown in the match.
The action started in the 22nd minute when Algerian defender Morgane Megana Belkhiter was shown a red card and left with ten players on the pitch.
Malawi made the hosts pay for their numerical advantage and scored in the 33rd minute through Tabitha Chawinga, who took advantage of the defensive error to score unassisted.
Just before halftime, there was to be a second goal for Malawi as Temwa Chawinga scored from the assist of Faith Chinzimu to put her team 2-0 up.
However, Malawi would also be reduced to ten players as Rose Smith Kadzere was shown a red card in first-half stoppage time.
Algeria respond as Tabitha scores again
Algeria had started the second half brightly scoring through Ikram Adjabi in the 60th minute after a good assist from Marine Dafeur.
Withdrawing into their shells, Algeria were unable to keep up with the pressure as Tabitha Chawinga scored again in the 76th minute to restore Malawi’s two-goal lead.
Malawi will now be looking to make history again as they prepare to face the winners of the second semi-final encounter in Sunday’s final.
