In-form Malawian Women’s National Team striker Temwa Chawinga, who is in the books of National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) side Kansas City Current, believes she is a contender for the 2024 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Female Football of the Year Award.
The 24-year-old told SportsBoom.com that if she does not win the award this year, her elder sister Tabitha Chawinga, who plays for Lyon and was the top scorer in the French Women’s League last season with 19 goals in 21 games while playing for Paris Saint-Germain, or Zambia’s Barbra Banda should win.
Caf on October 26, 2024, released the ten-man shortlist for the award in the male category and is expected to do the same for the women after the current international break.
“It’s Me, My Sister Or Babra Banda”
In anticipation of the nominees, Chawinga, who joined Kansas in January this year, is confident she’s a contender for the prestigious award after being snubbed last year when Nigeria’s Asisat Oshaola won it for the sixth time.
“I have had a good season here in the NWSL, and I thank my teammates for helping me perform the way I did in my debut season. It’s not me alone,” Chawinga told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview.
When asked who she would prefer to win the award if not herself, Chawinga replied, “If it’s not me or my sister [Tabitha Chawinga], then Barbra Banda because the way she’s playing, to be honest, she isn’t doing bad. She is doing great. The way she started the season was good, and she has also competed in major tournaments [the 2024 Paris Olympics], so she has a good chance of winning.”
Temwa Chawinga’s Impressive Season
Before joining Kansas this year, Chawinga outscored Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, and Kylian Mbappe to lead the world in goal-scoring charts in 2023.
The Malawian scored 63 goals in all competitions for Chinese Women’s Super League club Wuhan Jianghan University FC and her country, becoming the third consecutive women’s player to win the award after Spain’s Jenni Hermoso led the standings in 2021 and the Netherlands’ Fenna Kalma in 2022.
After moving to the United States, she quickly announced her arrival, scoring a record 20 goals in 25 games with six assists to secure Kansas’ qualification for the NWSL playoffs.
Her 2024 NWSL goal total shattered Australia and Chelsea FC forward Sam Kerr’s previous regular season record of eighteen goals, which she set in 2019 while playing for the Chicago Red Stars.
“I am happy about my achievements here, especially breaking the record, but I won’t be complacent. My focus is on scoring even more goals and winning something with my team,” Chawinga said after breaking Kerr’s NWSL record.
Chawinga And Banda Take NWSL By Storm
Behind Chawinga on the NWSL scoring chart is Zambia’s Barbra Banda, who joined the Orlando Pride from Chinese club Shanghai Shengli in March for a near-record $740,000 transfer fee and signed a four-year contract through the 2027 season.
Banda has scored 13 goals and six assists in 21 NWSL games, including four braces for the Pride, which helped them win the Shield.
“It’s amazing to see both of us leading the race for the Golden Boot here,” Chawinga said.
“Because we’re sisters, we’re coming from Africa, and we are good friends. We are doing it for Africa and to inspire many girls back home.”
Banda became the first player in Olympic history to score hat-tricks in consecutive games against the Republic of China and the Netherlands in 2021, despite her team going winless and exiting the group stage.
The Copper Queens captain added another three-goal performance to her name at the 2024 Paris games, this time in an 11-goal victory over Australia that ended 6-5.
Following that historic hat-trick, Banda became the first player in women’s football history to score three hat-tricks at an Olympic Games, putting her in strong contention for this year’s CAF award.
Her current Olympic goal tally is nine, five short of Cristiane’s record (14).
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