The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has assured the Scorchers that they will compete in next year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) qualifiers.
The Malawi women’s national team will be missing from WAFCON next year after the FAM withdrew from the qualifiers due to financial constraints.
They faced fierce criticism from a section of Malawians, including the team’s stars, Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga, for withdrawing the team from major competitions.
“We always play the Cosafa tournament due to funding issues, so I have told them [FAM] that going forward they should not involve me to play at Cosafa. Enough of that,” said Temwa.
Speaking to BolaNews in Malawi, FAM competitions director Gomezgani Zakazaka stated that the Scorchers will participate in the WAFCON qualifiers next year.
“That I can assure you, [we are] playing Wafcon qualifiers starting with Congo in February. Women’s World Cup qualification is at WAFCON finals, meaning if we beat Congo, we will face Zimbabwe or Angola and beating them means we will qualify for WAFCON,” said Zakazaka.
When asked if the team would have enough time to play friendlies in preparation for qualifiers, Zakazaka stated that FAM will make every effort to provide the team with friendly matches.
“We will try to make the team prepared to make them active; our squad has locals and a majority of professionals, which will make it difficult for professionals to get involved in those friendly matches as it will not be on the FIFA calendar,” he said.
WAFCON 2024 AND 2026 Qualifiers TO BE PLAYED IN 2025
Twelve teams qualified for the 2024 WAFCON, which will take place from July 5, 2025 to July 26, 2025.
Meanwhile, 38 countries are expected to compete for one of the 12 available spots in the 2026 edition, which will be held in Morocco for the third time consecutively.
Malawi will face Congo in the first round of the qualifiers, and if they advance to the second round, they will face the winner of the match between Angola and Zimbabwe.
South Africa, the reigning champions, Zambia, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Cameroon are the six nations exempted from the first round of qualifiers because of their high FIFA ranking among Africa’s top teams.
The qualifiers will be held in two rounds of home-and-away matches, ensuring intense and decisive encounters.
The first round of fixtures will take place from February 17 to 26, 2025, followed by the second round from October 20 to 28, 2025.
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