Malawi have reached their first Wafcon final as tournament debutants, facing Cameroon on Sunday. The Scorchers, ranked 153rd globally, are powered by sisters Tabitha Chawinga and Temwa Chawinga, who have scored nine of Malawi's 12 goals. Temwa leads the golden boot race with five strikes, tied with Zambia's Barbra Banda.

Both sisters overcame cultural barriers in Rumphi to achieve club success abroad. Tabitha, 30, starred in Sweden, China (three league titles, three golden boots), Italy (Serie A golden boot), France (PSG, Lyon), becoming the first Malawian woman to score in the Uefa Champions League. Temwa, 27, followed a similar path, winning four Chinese titles with Wuhan Jianghan and becoming the world's top calendar-year goalscorer in 2023 with 63 goals before joining Kansas City Current, where she won back-to-back NWSL golden boots and MVP awards.

At international level since 2011 and 2016 respectively, the sisters inspired Malawi's stunning run: upsetting 10-time champions Nigeria, topping a group containing 2022 semi-finalists Zambia, then overcoming Ghana and Algeria. Malawi FA president Fleetwood Haiya credits FIFA funding, but both sisters urge greater investment in girls' football. A victory would make Malawi only the fourth Wafcon winner after Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and South Africa.