Malawi's remarkable qualification journey for the 2026 CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations resumed on Wednesday with a 3-1 victory against Algeria in Rabat to progress to the final for the first time.
The Chawinga sisters were in another memorable form for the tournament debutants as they claimed all three of Malawi's successes.
Tabitha Chawinga netted twice while her younger sister Temwa scored once as Malawi emerged from a dismal semi-final littered with two red cards, lots of chances missed and VAR's repeated interventions.
The outcome will see Malawi go through to Sunday's final to face either hosts Morocco or Cameroon.
However, for the first time in WAFCON's history, the Malawi side have managed to defeat a number of other great African teams such as Nigeria, Algeria and Ghana despite their low seed.
A difficult task was set for Algeria mid first half when defender Morgane Belkhiter was sent off for a VAR review for denying Tabitha Chawinga a goal.
Malawi took the lead in the 33rd minute thanks to Tabitha's fantastic finish.
Asimenye Simwaka led the ball into the box and Chawinga danced to perfection with her back to the goal and then produced an acrobatic overhead left foot kick.
It bounced across the crossbar and rolled down and back over the line, the crossbar being the only thing that prevented it from going into the net and giving Malawi the lead.
It was doubled in the first half of stoppage time by Temwa.
The Kansas City Current striker broke her pace through the rounded Algeria goalkeeper, Chloe N'Gazi, and delicately dropped the ball into the empty net, 2-0.
But Malawi were the other side with 10 men on the pitch before half-time too.
After being shown a VAR review, Rose Kadzere was booked for a red card for catching VAR Marine Dafeur with a high challenge.
The game continued undecided when both sides began when playing with 10.
Temwa was denied a good chance to score for Malawi early on and Melissa Bethi had an opportunity to score for Algeria early on, but neither converted.
Algeria eventually got one back about an hour later via Ikram Adjabi.
Sheer penalty luck for Malawi as Adjabi was able to react and slot the shot across goal after the defending side had failed to get it.
It gave Algeria hope of a full recovery for a while but when there was an attack, Malawi was never far from the threat.
Tabitha would eventually settle the game with her second goal.
The 30-year-old sliced into the box with virtually no defence in front of him before adding to Malawi's two-goal lead from close range.
Algeria couldn't react as the Scorchers dominated the end of the game and won another historic win.
In total, the two Chawinga sisters have scored eight goals in the eight games they have played in Malawi.So far, the Chawinga sisters have netted eight goals: Temwa has five, while Tabitha has three goals at the tournament.
Their performances have played a key role in the campaign that has led to Malawi's qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
The Scorchers are the first new participants in this year's edition of WAFCON to reach the final, and are now one win away from claiming one of the biggest comebacks of the tournament's history.
Malawi, who will be entering the final with a level of confidence they have built up after beating some of the best teams in Africa, have all the reason to feel like they will be able to complete their extraordinary journey with the cup.
