Malawi’s Temwa Chawinga has made history after finishing tenth at the 2026 Ballon d’Or awards, the highest position ever achieved by an African woman in the history of the prestigious awards.
During the 2025-26 season, which was considered for the award, Chawinga won the NWSL Golden Boot for the second consecutive time after scoring 15 goals in 23 matches for Kansas City Current.
The 27-year-old’s tenth-place finish at the Ballon d’Or means she has surpassed Barbra Banda’s record as the highest-ranked African woman in the history of the award.
Banda, who finished 18th this year, set the previous record in 2024 when she finished 12th.
Temwa has been outstanding since moving to the United States. In May 2025, she became the fastest player to reach 25 goals in the NWSL regular season, achieving the milestone in just 34 matches.
In September, she scored in Kansas City Current’s 2–0 victory over Seattle Reign, a result that secured the club’s first-ever NWSL Shield. During that campaign, the team also set several league records, including the highest number of points and wins, as well as the fewest goals conceded in a single season.
Temwa: From 17th to 10th
At the end of 2025, Temwa received her first nomination for the Women’s Ballon d’Or but finished 17th in the rankings.
“I encourage girls in Malawi that everything is possible. I never expected this when I was young,” Temwa said last year.
Despite all these achievements, Temwa told the Olympics the challenges being faced by African women footballers.
“It was very difficult for us to play, because in Africa, many countries think that football isn’t for girls. Our mum wouldn’t let us play, but we didn’t listen to her.
“Growing up, I looked up to my sister a lot, because she was the one who convinced me to play. I never had a TV to watch women’s football on; I just followed my sister’s lead.”
Temwa has continued to impress in the NWSL in 2026. In May, she scored the first hat-trick in Kansas City Current’s history in a regular-season match, inspiring a 3–0 victory over the Chicago Stars. She currently has 12 goals and four assists in 18 appearances for her club.
At international level, Temwa has also been prolific. She helped Malawi’s national team, the Scorchers, reach the final of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in their debut appearance at the tournament, although they lost to Cameroon.
Temwa scored five goals during the competition, finding the net in memorable victories over some of Africa’s established footballing nations: twice against Nigeria and once each against Egypt, Ghana and Algeria.
She finished as the tournament’s top scorer despite Malawi’s defeat to Cameroon in the final. The Scorchers, however, achieved a historic milestone by qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time.
