Scorchers Advance to WAFCON Semifinals, Secure Historic World Cup Qualification

The victory not only sent Malawi into the last four of the continental championship but also secured the Scorchers’ historic first-ever qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be staged in Brazil.

Malawi came from behind after Ghana opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah.

The early setback, however, did little to derail the Scorchers, who responded four minutes later when Temwa Chawinga levelled the contest in the 10th minute.

The two sides remained locked at 1-1 at halftime before Rose Kabzere struck in the 78th minute to put Malawi ahead.

The Scorchers held on through the closing stages to secure a landmark victory and book their place in the semifinals.

Chawinga was named Player of the Match for her influential performance.

The result means Malawi have now achieved both objectives they set themselves before the tournament — qualifying for the World Cup and reaching the WAFCON semifinals.

Head coach Livermore Fazili praised his players for maintaining their composure after conceding early.

“After we conceded an early goal, we urged the players not to give up and keep on fighting because I knew that they were not happy with the goal, so we kept on moving forward though our opponents, Ghana, were still keeping pressing on us, making a very tough first half,” Fazili said.

He said the equaliser before halftime gave the team renewed confidence heading into the second half.

“We equalized before the end of the first half and that goal motivated the players up until second half when we got the second goal. It was great game and Ghana is a big team as well,” he said.

Fazili said the team had arrived at the tournament with two clear objectives and had now achieved both.

“I’m happy that we have qualified for the semi-finals and World Cup. We had two missions when we were coming here, first is to qualify for the World Cup and secondly to qualify for the semi-finals. Now we are targeting the championship and we are confident for that,” he added.

The Scorchers will now face Algeria in the semifinal on Wednesday, Aug. 12.

Algeria booked their place in the last four after beating Ivory Coast 2-1 in their quarterfinal.

For Malawi, the semifinal represents another opportunity to extend what has already become a historic WAFCON campaign.

Having secured their first qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Scorchers can now turn their attention fully to the continental title.

Their victory over Ghana also underlines the team’s resilience after falling behind early in the match. Rather than allowing the opening goal to dictate the contest, Malawi responded almost immediately through Chawinga before eventually finding the decisive goal through Kabzere.

With the World Cup place already secured, the Scorchers will enter Wednesday’s semifinal with the prospect of reaching the WAFCON final for the first time.

The team’s immediate challenge, however, will be Algeria, which has also demonstrated their ability to progress through the knockout stages.

For Malawi, the historic qualification for Brazil 2027 has already secured a landmark place in the country’s football history.

But with the semifinal now within reach, Fazili and his players have made clear that their ambitions extend beyond merely qualifying for the World Cup.

The Scorchers are now chasing the WAFCON championship.