Malawi Women’s National Football Team captain Tabitha Chawinga and sister Temwa have said the upcoming Four Nations Tournament in China will give them a chance to prepare for the Fifa Women’s World Cup finals in Brazil next year.
Thursday, the Football Association of Malawi (Fam) said the team would participate in the tournament in China later this month.
The tournament is scheduled for November 28 to December 4 and will attract hosts China, Malawi, Albania and Thailand. According to the fixture, the Scorchers will start their business with Albania on November 28 before meeting Thailand three days later.
The team will conclude its assignments at the tournament with a match against China.
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France-based Tabitha said she was excited with the development, saying the tournament would help them prepare well for the global football showpiece.
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“It is good news for the girls. We need to play big teams for us to prepare well for the World Cup,” Tabitha said.
The tournament will be played in a single round-robin format, with each team facing each other.
The team with the highest number of points will finish as champions.
Temwa said playing against highly ranked teams would help them gauge their strength ahead of the World Cup finals.
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“We will learn a lot from the teams. We have several youngsters in the team; so, this is a chance for them to play outside Africa,” she said.
This will be the first time for the Scorchers to play matches outside Africa since their international debut in 2002.
However, the team played Australia and India during the Fifa Women’s Series in Nairobi, Kenya, in April this year, losing 5-0 to Australia before suffering a 3-2 loss to India.
Fam Communications Officer Collins Nsunza said the tournament would help the technical panel assess players.
“This tournament has come at a very good time as the Scorchers are preparing for their first-ever appearance at the Fifa Women’s World Cup finals,” Nsunza is quoted as saying on the Fam website.
The Scorchers qualified for World Cup finals after impressive performances at the 2026 Caf Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) finals in Morocco.
Malawi finished second after suffering a 3-0 loss to Cameroon.
