Temwa Chawinga Bio
Temwa Chawinga (born September 20, 1998) is a Malawian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Kansas City Current in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and represents the Malawi national team. Over the course of her career, she has built a reputation as one of the most prolific goal scorers in women’s football, winning multiple individual awards and setting league records on three different continents. She gained international recognition for becoming the first player in NWSL history to score 20 goals in a single season during her debut campaign in the United States.
Early Life and Background
Temwa Chawinga was born on September 20, 1998, in the Rumphi district of the Northern Region of Malawi. She is the youngest of five children and is of Tumbuka ethnicity. Her given name, Temwa, means “love” in the Tumbuka language, a detail that reflects her family’s cultural heritage in northern Malawi.
Chawinga grew up in a household that nurtured athletic ambition. Her older sister, Tabitha Chawinga, is also a professional footballer who has represented Malawi at the international level. Watching her older sister pursue the sport helped shape Temwa’s early interest in football and laid the foundation for her own career path.
Path to Professional Soccer
Chawinga began her senior career in 2017 with Blantyre Zero, a Malawian club that gave her first exposure to competitive adult football. Her performances there quickly attracted attention from clubs abroad, and later that same year she joined Swedish side Kvarnsvedens IK, reuniting with her sister Tabitha in Scandinavia.
At Kvarnsveden, Chawinga adapted to the demands of European football between 2017 and 2019, developing her attacking game against stronger and more organized defenses. That two-year spell in Sweden served as a critical bridge between her beginnings in Malawi and a major move to the Chinese Women’s Super League in January 2020.
Temwa Chawinga Career
Early Career (2017–2019)
Temwa Chawinga’s earliest professional chapter split between Blantyre Zero in Malawi and Kvarnsvedens IK in Sweden. The brief 2017 stint with Blantyre Zero introduced her to senior competitive football and showcased her finishing instincts at the domestic level. Moving to Kvarnsveden later that year gave her access to a more structured European training environment and a higher tempo of play.
Across her two full seasons in Sweden, she continued to refine her movement in the final third and her ability to link with midfielders. Those developmental years positioned her for the biggest leap of her career when Wuhan Jianghan of the Chinese Women’s Super League came calling in early 2020.
Wuhan Jianghan Breakthrough (2020–2023)
In January 2020, Chawinga signed with Chinese Women’s Super League club Wuhan Jianghan on a two-year contract. Her debut season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as Wuhan was placed under lockdown, but play eventually resumed. She responded with 9 goals in her first campaign, finishing second only to Shanghai Shengli’s Barbra Banda in the scoring charts and helping Wuhan claim the league title.
In 2021, Chawinga was joined in Wuhan by her sister Tabitha, and the pair drove the team to a second consecutive league championship. Chawinga netted 7 goals that year while Tabitha led the league with 9. The 2022 season saw Chawinga take over the scoring lead with 10 goals after Tabitha departed for Inter Milan, securing a third straight title. In 2023, she was even more dominant, scoring a total of 51 goals for Wuhan across all competitions and 12 for Malawi. That remarkable haul made her the world’s top goal scorer for 2023 across both men’s and women’s football, and she helped the club to a record fourth consecutive league title.
Kansas City Current Era (2024–Present)
On January 3, 2024, Chawinga signed a two-year contract with the Kansas City Current, beginning a new chapter in the NWSL. She opened her account with a goal in a 4–2 win over Angel City FC on March 30, becoming the first Malawian goalscorer in NWSL history. Four goals in her first five games earned her a place on the NWSL Team of the Month for March and April, and a six-goal June brought her the NWSL Player of the Month award.
Her debut season reached historic heights. She scored in a league-record eight consecutive regular-season games from June to September, broke Sam Kerr’s single-season mark of 18 goals by reaching 19 against Bay FC on October 12, and became the first NWSL player to score against all 13 other teams in one season with her 20th goal against the San Diego Wave. She closed the year by scoring both goals in the final of the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup win over NJ/NY Gotham FC, then claimed the NWSL Golden Boot and was voted NWSL Most Valuable Player. The Guardian later ranked her the 19th best player in the world in 2025.
In 2025, Chawinga signed a three-year contract extension through 2028 and continued to deliver. She became the fastest player to reach 25 career NWSL regular-season goals, doing so in just 34 games, and scored in a 2–0 win over the Seattle Reign on September 20 to clinch the NWSL Shield with the best record in the league. She finished the 2025 regular season with 15 goals in 23 appearances, won her second consecutive Golden Boot, joined Sam Kerr as the only multiple winners of the award, and was named NWSL MVP for the second straight season, becoming the first player in league history to receive that honor in consecutive years. The Guardian ranked her the sixth best player in the world in 2025. A leg injury sustained on October 18 kept her out of the playoffs, where the Current were upset by Gotham FC in the quarterfinals.
Playing Style and Strengths
Chawinga combines sharp positional sense with a clinical finishing touch inside the penalty area. She thrives as a central forward who can stretch defenses with vertical runs, capitalize on crosses, and convert half-chances through quick reactions. Her consistency in finding the net across very different leagues in Africa, Europe, and Asia points to a tactical intelligence that allows her to adapt to varied styles of play and teammate profiles.
Notable Events and Milestones
Her career-defining moments include the 20-goal NWSL season in 2024, the league-record eight consecutive games with a goal, the consecutive Golden Boot and MVP awards in 2024 and 2025, and her status as the world’s top combined goal scorer in 2023. Clinching the NWSL Shield with the Kansas City Current in record time in 2025 stands as another signature achievement in her growing list of accolades.
Temwa Chawinga Career Wins
Temwa Chawinga has accumulated an impressive collection of team championships and individual honors since turning professional in 2017. Across club football in three different countries and on the international stage with Malawi, she has consistently finished near the top of scoring charts and lifted major trophies.
Wuhan Jianghan Highlights
Chawinga won four consecutive Chinese Women’s Super League titles with Wuhan Jianghan from 2020 through 2023. Her scoring totals climbed each season, culminating in a 51-goal year across all competitions in 2023, a figure that made her the world’s leading goal scorer for that calendar year. Her most recent league title in China came in 2023, when she helped the club set a new record of four straight championships.
Kansas City Current Highlights
With the Kansas City Current, Chawinga has added the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and the 2025 NWSL Shield to her trophy cabinet. Her 20-goal debut season in 2024 secured the NWSL Golden Boot, and she repeated the feat in 2025 with 15 goals, joining Sam Kerr as the only multiple winners of that award. She has also been named NWSL Most Valuable Player in both 2024 and 2025, becoming the first player in league history to earn back-to-back MVP honors.
Other Performances
In 2023, Chawinga led the Malawi national team to their first COSAFA Women’s Championship title, adding an international trophy to her club resume. Her 12 international goals that year were a major part of that historic run and contributed to her status as the world’s top goal scorer across men’s and women’s football.
Temwa Chawinga Family
Family Background and Soccer Lineage
Temwa Chawinga is the youngest of five children and was raised in a family that embraced sport. Her older sister, Tabitha Chawinga, is also a professional footballer who has played in Sweden, China, and Italy and represents the Malawi national team. The two sisters have shared locker rooms at Kvarnsveden and Wuhan Jianghan, and Tabitha has been a significant influence on Temwa’s path in the game.
Personal Life
Chawinga is of Tumbuka ethnicity and her given name means “love” in the Tumbuka language, a reflection of her northern Malawian roots. Her career has taken her from Malawi to Sweden, China, and the United States, and she continues to be recognized as one of the most prominent figures in Malawian sport.
2025 Season Performance
Temwa Chawinga’s 2025 NWSL campaign with the Kansas City Current was one of the most dominant individual seasons in recent league history. She finished the regular season with 15 goals in 23 appearances, claiming her second consecutive Golden Boot and joining Sam Kerr as the only multiple winners of the award. The Current set multiple NWSL regular-season records that year, including most points, most wins, and fewest goals allowed, underscoring the team’s collective strength around her goal scoring.
A defining moment came on September 20, when Chawinga scored in a 2–0 win over the Seattle Reign to clinch the NWSL Shield with the best record in the league in record time. She had earlier reached 25 career NWSL regular-season goals faster than any player in history, doing so in just 34 games. Her form throughout the summer and fall made her the central figure in Kansas City’s record-breaking run.
Chawinga’s season ended on a difficult note when she suffered a leg injury against the Houston Dash on October 18 and was unable to return for the playoffs. Without her, the Current were upset by Gotham FC in the quarterfinals, ending their title defense. Despite that disappointment, she was named NWSL MVP for the second consecutive year, the first player in league history to earn that distinction in back-to-back seasons, and was ranked by The Guardian as the sixth best player in the world in 2025. After missing the start of the 2026 campaign, she returned from injury on April 4 and scored the first regular-season hat trick in franchise history on May 10, signaling that her scoring touch remains intact heading into the next chapter of her career.
