MATCH STATS: Malawi face Zambia in TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON Morocco 2026 Group C
Southern African neighbours Malawi and Zambia meet in their final TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026 Group C fixture at Al Madina Stadium in Rabat on Wednesday, 5 August, with kick-off at 21h00 local time (20h00 GMT).
Match Facts
• Both teams won on the opening matchday. Malawi followed their 3-2 victory over Nigeria with a 3-1 win against Egypt, while Zambia’s 6-0 defeat of Egypt was followed by a 1-0 loss to Nigeria.
• This will be the first meeting between the Southern African neighbours at the WAFCON.
• Malawi will be facing Southern African opposition for the first time at the tournament.
• Malawi are the third different Southern African team Zambia will have faced at the WAFCON, after South Africa and Namibia.
• This will be Zambia’s fourth WAFCON match against a fellow COSAFA member nation. They failed to win any of the previous three, recording one draw and two defeats.
• Zambia lost 2-0 to hosts Namibia in the group stage in 2014, drew 1-1 with South Africa in their final group game in 2018 and lost 1-0 to South Africa in the 2022 semi-finals.
• On the two previous occasions that Zambia were drawn alongside COSAFA opposition in the group stage, they failed to progress. Zambia and hosts Namibia were eliminated in 2014, while South Africa advanced alongside Nigeria in 2018.
• Zambia have never kept a clean sheet against Southern African opposition at the WAFCON, scoring once and conceding four goals.
• Four of the five goals scored in Zambia’s WAFCON matches against Southern African teams have come in the first half. The exception was Linda Motlhalo’s second-half stoppage-time penalty in South Africa’s 1-0 semi-final victory in 2022.
• This will be Zambia’s second WAFCON match against a country with which they share a land border. Their previous such meeting was against Namibia in 2014.
• Malawi and Zambia have met five times at the COSAFA Women’s Championship. Zambia have won three of those encounters and Malawi two.
• Zambia defeated Malawi 8-0 in 2002 and 6-3 in 2017, before Malawi won 1-0 in 2020 and 2-1 in the 2023 final. Zambia won their most recent tournament meeting 2-0 in the 2024 semi-finals.
• Malawi won their first COSAFA Women’s Championship title in 2023, defeating defending champions Zambia 2-1 in the final.
• Zambia ended Malawi’s title defence with a 2-0 semi-final victory in 2024 before going on to reclaim the regional crown.
• Zambia will be facing tournament debutants for the third time, with all three encounters having come in the group stage.
• They lost 2-0 to debutants Namibia in 2014 before defeating first-time participants Togo 4-1 in 2022.
Malawi – Key Statistics
• Malawi followed their 3-2 victory over Nigeria with a 3-1 win against Egypt and have taken six points from their opening two WAFCON matches.
• They are the first tournament debutants since Angola in 2002 to remain unbeaten through their opening two matches. Angola drew 1-1 with Zimbabwe and South Africa before losing 1-0 to Cameroon.
• Excluding the inaugural tournament in 1998, Malawi are the first WAFCON debutants to win their opening two group games.
• At the inaugural edition, Nigeria won all three of their group games, while Ghana defeated South Africa and Cameroon in a three-team group.
• Malawi will qualify for the quarter-finals and finish top of Group C with either a win or a draw against Zambia.
• They will also advance with a defeat if Nigeria fail to beat Egypt. Should Malawi lose and Nigeria win, Malawi, Zambia and Nigeria would all finish on six points, with the head-to-head tiebreak criteria used to determine the two quarter-finalists.
• Progression would make Malawi the first debutants since Botswana in 2022 to reach the knockout rounds.
• Excluding 1998, they would become only the third debutants to reach the knockout rounds, after Zimbabwe in 2000 and Botswana in 2022.
• Temwa Chawinga scored in the victory over Egypt and has found the net in both of Malawi’s matches at the tournament.
• She is the first player to score in successive group games for WAFCON debutants since Togo’s Afie Woedikou scored in their second and third matches in 2022.
• Temwa also provided an assist against Egypt, becoming the first Malawian to score and assist in the same WAFCON match.
• She has four goal involvements at the tournament, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
• Malawi are yet to keep a clean sheet at the finals, having conceded twice against Nigeria and once against Egypt.
• Rose Alufandika was sent off against Egypt, becoming the first Malawian player to receive a red card at the WAFCON.
• Malawi attempted 22 shots against Egypt, with 10 on target, their highest totals in a WAFCON match.
• They won 14 corners against Egypt, compared with one for their opponents.
• Rose Kadzere made five key passes against Egypt, more than any other player in the match.
• Kadzere also registered three shots on target, the most by any player.
Zambia – Key Statistics
• Zambia lost 1-0 to Nigeria in their second group game, with Asisat Oshoala scoring the only goal in the eighth minute.
• They have lost their last two WAFCON meetings with Nigeria.
• Zambia are seeking to progress beyond the group stage for the third successive tournament and the third time overall.
• They finished third in 2022 and reached the quarter-finals at the last edition.
• Their two previous group-stage eliminations came in 2014 and 2018.
• The defeat to Nigeria ended Zambia’s eight-match unbeaten run in the group stage, during which they recorded five wins and three draws.
• Their previous group-stage defeat was also against Nigeria in their second match at the 2018 edition.
• Zambia had won three consecutive group games before losing to Nigeria.
• They had also scored in six successive group matches before failing to find the net against Nigeria.
• It was the first time Zambia had failed to score in a group game since their goalless draw with Cameroon in their opening match of the 2022 tournament.
• Zambia have scored in all three of their group games at a single edition once, at the last tournament.
• They have never lost their final group match, recording two victories and two draws.
• Zambia have won their final group game at each of the last two editions, defeating Togo 4-1 in 2022 and DR Congo 1-0 at the last tournament.
• Their other two final group games ended in 1-1 draws against Côte d’Ivoire in 2014 and South Africa in 2018.
• The last two teams to eliminate Zambia from the WAFCON went on to win the title: South Africa in the 2022 semi-finals and Nigeria in the quarter-finals at the last edition.
• Margaret Belemu had 52 touches against Nigeria, the most by any player in the match.
• Zambia registered two shots on target against Nigeria, but Barbra Banda did not manage an attempt on target.
• Banda won nine duels against Nigeria, the joint-most in the game.
• She also had 10 touches inside the opposition penalty area, more than any other player.