US-based Malawian women’s football icon Temwa Chawinga’s failure to represent the Scorchers has had an impact on her overall performance in 2024 as she has surrendered the overall World Top Scorer accolade.
The Scorchers and Kansas City Current forward won the accolade in 2023 with 63 goals.
According to International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), Temwa has dropped to position 23 on women’s world top scorers’ list with just 24 goals in all competitions in the 2024 season, 39 less than her previous tally.
IFFHS released the statistics yesterday showing that the overall top scorer for last year was Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres with 62 goals while last year’s runner-up Mexican Charlyn Veronica Corral is the women’s world golden boot winner.
The Liga MX Femenil side Pachuca FC striker has won the accolade with 44 goals in all competitions, 20 more than Temwa.
Zambia’s Barbra Banda is Africa’s best on 12th with 27 goals, 19 of which she netted at club level at Shanghai in the China Women’s Super League and Orlando Pride of the US National Women’s Soccer League while the other eight with Copper Queens.
Temwa’s sister, Tabitha, is 17th and second on the continent in the women’s category, having scored 25 with French Première Ligue sides Paris Saint Germain and Lyon.
Temwa is third on the continent in the women’s category.
In a statement, IFFHS said: “All goals at top senior level in 40 best leagues in the world were counted alongside top national leagues, national cups, official international club tournaments and official games between national teams games from January 1 to December 31 2024.”
The development means Temwa and Tabitha were at a disadvantage as they did not represent the Scorchers in 2024.
Despite initially confirming their availability for the Cosafa Women’s Championship, the two sisters did not honour the call up.
Their manager Theana Msolomba was yesterday not available for comment.
But Temwa recently revealed that she boycotted the Scorchers call up in protest against Football Association of Malawi’s lack of support for women’s football.
She said: “As women, we don’t get the same support in terms of resources as men. I had wanted to come and play, but I didn’t because I was protesting that we don’t take part in Fifa recognised tournaments.
“Emulate how Zambia is doing. The women’s team is well-supported and plays in all Fifa tournaments. It should be the same with us as these tournaments offer a platform for exposure. Zambia have a lot of professionals because they get exposure.”
Temwa, also made it clear she would no longer take part in the Cosafa tournaments, saying: “I am done. That chapter is closed for me.”
However, football analyst Raymond Siyaya in an interview said there could be other factors that contributed to Temwa’s drop in form.
He said: “I could put my finger on a couple of issues. First, she may have dropped in terms of form since it is normal for players to go through a spell partly due to personal issues or off the pitch issues.
“Secondly, her club somewhat struggled as they finished fourth, which may translate to poor general club form which may have impacted on the service she received as a striker to score goals.
“But generally, she may rue the fact that she did not participate in the Cosafa tournament while Barbra Banda shone at the Olympic Games and at the world stage as well.”
Temwa won the National Women’s Soccer League golden boot with 20 goals to become the first player to achieve the feat.
She was also named National Women’s Soccer League most valuable player.
But despite her individual achievements, it was Banda’s side Orlando that won the championship while Kansas finished fourth.
