The United States is the most successful nation in women’s soccer. In the seventeen World Cup and Olympic women’s soccer tournaments that have been competed in since the first one in 1991, the U.S. has won nine golds, and the rest of the world combined has won only eight.
So, you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking in the NWSL, the United States domestic women’s soccer league, that the MVP would be an American. Think again. The last two were captured by Temwa Chawinga, a striker from Malawi, who plays for the Kansas City Current. In 2024, Chawinga’s inaugural season in the NWSL, she scored 20 goals, the first player in league history to hit that mark in a single season. She won the Golden Boot for most goals scored and was named the league’s MVP. In 2025, Chawinga captured the Golden Boot and MVP honors again. She is the only player in league history to be named MVP in consecutive seasons.
What makes Chawinga’s dominance in the NWSL even more amazing is that she hails from Malawi, a country that is not at all known for soccer prowess. The African nation has never qualified for the World Cup or Olympics (men’s or women’s). Chawinga and her sister, Tabitha, are hoping to change that. They are the leading players on the Malawi team that currently sits in first place in their African qualifying group for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
What makes this possible miracle run to the World Cup more intriguing is that it is the women of Malawi, not the men, who are making it. When the Chawinga sisters were growing up, it was highly discouraged for girls to play soccer in Malawi. This attitude was even adopted by their own mother. The girls would have to sneak out to play, and when they did, it was with the boys. In an article in The Guardian, Tabitha explained, “We used to play football with boys. I did whatever the boys did, and that laid the foundation for my football career.”
Those games played on the dusty pitches of Rumphi, a rural region in Northern Malawi, were the beginning of two soccer careers that found them becoming the first Malawian females to play soccer in Europe. They both later played in the Chinese Super League before Temwa moved to the NWSL (Tabitha now plays for Lyon in the French league).
Although their success has helped lead a football renaissance in Malawi, there are still miles to go. Temwa stated, “There is so much talent in the country, but due to lack of finances and sponsorship, it is not tapped.”
A successful qualifying run to the World Cup could do wondrous things. Women’s World Cup qualifying for the African region (CAF) is run through their Africa Cup of Nations tournament with the four semifinal teams all qualifying for the World Cup. Although this is the first time that Malawi has ever qualified for the Cup of Nations tournament, Temwa rejected the underdog label. She told ESPN, “We’re not just going there to participate. We’re going there to compete.” Temwa’s words were backed up when she scored two goals and her sister Tabitha added one in Malawi’s shocking upset over defending champion Nigeria in their opening game of the tournament.
Temwa is keenly aware that their success can lay the foundation for future female Malawian soccer players to avoid the difficult challenges that she and her sister had to overcome. “It’s an opportunity for young girls from Malawi to show their skills, so they can go to another country, like European countries, to play there….so this tournament will show that we can do it.”
