Temwa Chawinga


Temwa Chaŵinga is a Malawian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League and the Malawi national team. She won the NWSL Golden Boot and NWSL Most Valuable Player awards in both of her first two seasons with the Current.
The younger sister of Tabitha Chawinga, she joined her sister at Swedish club Kvarnsveden in 2017. Three years later, she moved to Wuhan Jianghan, winning four consecutive Chinese league titles and becoming the world's leading goal scorer in 2023. In 2024, she joined the Current and set the NWSL's single-season record with 20 league goals in her debut season. She led the Current to the NWSL Shield in dominant fashion in 2025.
Chawinga made her international debut for Malawi in 2016. In 2023, she led Malawi to their first COSAFA Women's Championship title.

Early life

Chaŵinga was born on September 20, 1998, in Rumphi district, Northern Region, Malawi. She is the youngest of five children. She is of Tumbuka ethnicity and her name Temwa means "love" in Tumbuka language. Her older sister, Tabitha Chawinga, is also a professional footballer.

Club career

Kvarnsveden

Chaŵinga signed with Swedish club Kvarnsvedens IK in 2017.

Wuhan Jianghan

In January 2020, Chaŵinga signed with Chinese Women's Super League club Wuhan Jianghan on a two-year contract. Her sister Tabitha played for Chinese reigning champions Jiangsu at the time. However, the COVID-19 pandemic soon began in Wuhan and the city was placed under lockdown for several months. After the league resumed play, Chawinga scored 9 goals in her debut season, second only to Shanghai Shengli's Barbra Banda, and helped Wuhan to the league title.
Chawinga was joined in Wuhan by her sister Tabitha in 2021. She fired 7 goals while her sister led the league with 9, repeating as league champions. In 2022, she led the league with 10 goals after Tabitha left for Inter Milan, helping win her third consecutive league title.
In 2023, Chawinga scored a total of 51 goals for Wuhan across all competitions and 12 for Malawi, making her the world's top goal scorer for the year, male or female. She helped the club to their record fourth consecutive league title.

Kansas City Current

2024: Record-setting Golden Boot and MVP

On January 3, 2024, Chaŵinga signed a two-year contract with the Kansas City Current. She scored her first goal for the Current in a 4–2 win over Angel City FC on March 30, becoming the first Malawian goalscorer in NWSL history. She quickly impressed with four goals in her first five games and was named to the NWSL Team of the Month for March/April. She scored six goals in four games in the month of June, leading her to be named NWSL Player of the Month. She overtook the Orlando Pride's Zambian striker Barbra Banda for the Golden Boot lead with a brace against the Houston Dash on June 28, helping the Current win their then league record 17th undefeated regular season game in a row.
Chaŵinga scored in a league-record eight regular-season games in a row from June 9 to September 7. She was again named NWSL Player of the Month with four goals in five games in September. She scored her 19th goal of the season in a 1–0 win over Bay FC on October 12, breaking Sam Kerr's single-season record of 18 goals in 2019. With her 20th goal against the San Diego Wave, she became the first NWSL player to score against all 13 other teams in one season. On October 26, she scored the only two goals in the final of the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup against NJ/NY Gotham FC. Chawinga became the first player in NWSL history to score 20 goals in a single season and was awarded the NWSL Golden Boot. She was also voted NWSL Most Valuable Player. She was ranked by The Guardian as the 19th best player in the world in 2025.

2025: NWSL Shield and second MVP

On January 29, 2025, Chawinga signed a three-year contract extension to keep her with the Current through 2028. On May 16, she scored her 25th career NWSL regular-season goal in a 1–0 win over the Orlando Pride, becoming the fastest player to reach that mark. On September 20, she scored in a 2–0 win over the Seattle Reign, clinching the NWSL Shield with the best record in the league in record time. On October 18, she left the game against the Houston Dash with a leg injury in the first half.
Chawinga finished the 2025 regular season with 15 goals in 23 appearances to win the Golden Boot for a second consecutive time, joining Sam Kerr as the only players to win multiple times. The team set multiple NWSL records including most points, most wins, and fewest goals allowed in a season. She was unable to return from her injury for the playoffs as the Current were upset by Gotham FC in the quarterfinals. In 2025 she was named NWSL MVP for the second consecutive season, making her the first NWSL player to receive that award in two consecutive seasons. She was ranked by The Guardian as the sixth best player in the world in 2025.

International career

Personal life

Chaŵinga's older sister Tabitha is also a Malawian international footballer.

Career statistics

International goals

Scores and results list Malawi's goal tally first
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
130 December 2016Nankhaka Stadium, Lilongwe, Malawi, Malawi1–12–3Friendly
215 September 2017Barbourfields Stadium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe3–06–32017 COSAFA Women's Championship
315 September 2017Barbourfields Stadium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe4–06–32017 COSAFA Women's Championship
417 September 2017Luveve Stadium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe1–23–32017 COSAFA Women's Championship
54 April 2019Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi2–011–12020 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
64 April 2019Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi4–011–12020 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
74 April 2019Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi5–011–12020 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
84 April 2019Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi7–011–12020 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
94 April 2019Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi10–011–12020 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
109 April 2019Estádio do Zimpeto, Maputo, Mozambique0–10-32020 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
117 November 2020Wolfson Stadium, Ibhayi, South Africa3–09–02020 COSAFA Women's Championship
129 November 2020Wolfson Stadium, Ibhayi, South Africa1–01–02020 COSAFA Women's Championship
1312 November 2020Wolfson Stadium, Ibhayi, South Africa1–12–62020 COSAFA Women's Championship
1425 September 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria12–017–0Friendly
1525 September 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria13–017–0Friendly
1625 September 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria14–017–0Friendly
174 October 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria2–14–32023 COSAFA Women's Championship
184 October 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria3–14–32023 COSAFA Women's Championship
194 October 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria4–14–32023 COSAFA Women's Championship
207 October 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria5–08–02023 COSAFA Women's Championship
217 October 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria6–08–02023 COSAFA Women's Championship
227 October 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria7–08–02023 COSAFA Women's Championship
237 October 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria8–08–02023 COSAFA Women's Championship
2413 October 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria1–12–12023 COSAFA Women's Championship
2513 October 2023Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria2–12–12023 COSAFA Women's Championship

Honors and awards

Wuhan Jianghan University
  • Chinese Women's Super League: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Kansas City Current
Individual