History
The Malawi women's national football team was established in the early 2000s, during a period when many African nations were forming women's teams. Malawi made its first appearance on the international stage in April 2002, participating in the inaugural COSAFA Women's Championship held in Harare, Zimbabwe. In their first official match on 20 April 2002, they were defeated 8–0 by neighboring Zambia. The team recorded its first victory in the following match, defeating Lesotho 3–0, before losing to the hosts in the final match of the tournament.
In 2004, Malawi took part in its first qualifying campaign for the African Women's Championship, advancing past Uganda by walkover before losing 9–0 on aggregate to Ethiopia. A second attempt in 2006 was unsuccessful, although the team earned its first point with a scoreless draw against Benin in the second leg. From that period until the 2010s, Malawi competed primarily at the regional level, participating in the COSAFA Women's Championship.
2011–2018: Building Phase
In 2011, during the fourth COSAFA Women's Championship, Malawi made history by qualifying for the semi-finals for the first time. However, losses to South Africa and Tanzania left the team in fourth place. The following year, Malawi participated in the African Women's Championship qualifiers and recorded its first-ever victory in a continental qualifying match by defeating Zambia 4–2, overturning a heavy first-leg defeat. The team then went on a three-year hiatus before returning in 2015, when they played a friendly against Tanzania. [2] [3] A similar situation occurred in 2016, with only a single match played throughout the year. [4]
The return of the COSAFA Women's Championship in 2017, and its transition to an annual event, proved crucial in providing competitive matches for the She-Flames. [5] Although the team was eliminated in the group stage in both 2017 and 2018, the number of games played tripled compared to the previous two years.
2019–present: Breakthrough Years
In 2019, Malawi participated in its first Olympic Games qualifying tournament, defeating Mozambique 11–1 and 3–0 across the two legs to advance to the first round. [6] At that year's COSAFA Women's Championship, Malawi recorded two wins out of three matches, including a notable 13–0 victory against Comoros. [7] Although the team was eliminated by Kenya in the first round of Olympic qualifying, their performance demonstrated significant progress. [8]
In January 2020, the team's nickname was officially changed to "the Scorchers", distinguishing them from the men's team, known as "the Flames". [9] Increased match experience led to improved results and a narrowing gap with top Southern African sides. In 2021, Malawi reached the final of the COSAFA Championship, narrowly losing to Tanzania. [10] Later that year, the team participated in the 2022 WAFCON qualifiers, facing regional rivals Zambia; although Malawi was eliminated after the second-leg loss, the results reflected continued improvement. [11]
In September 2023, as preparation for that year's regional tournament, Malawi played two friendly matches against Seychelles, winning both 17–0, marking their largest victories to date. [12] During the tournament itself, Malawi went undefeated and captured their first COSAFA Women's Championship title [13] , significantly raising the team's profile and paving the way for more fixtures. [14] While they failed to defend their title in 2024 [15] , the federation arranged additional matches, and in 2025 the team played eight international friendlies, a record for the side. [16] In October 2025, Malawi achieved a historic milestone by qualifying for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations for the first time, defeating Angola over a two-leg aggregate in the final qualifying round. [17]
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1 (7 August 2025) [1] 
Zambia 8–0 Malawi 
