Temwa Chawinga Poised To Lead The KC Current To A Championship
The KC Current don’t have anywhere near as many points as last year going into the playoffs -- but they do have Temwa
At this time last year, NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga had suffered a non-contact injury in a match against Houston and left the field in a wheelchair. This was an earth shattering blow to the Current to cap off the best season by a team in NWSL history.
A year later, the Current have suffered trials, tribulations, and injuries again… but not Temwa. Outside of losing an ally in Vlatko Andonovski -- which we can only speculate as to how much that effected her -- Temwa has continued her success from 2025. Maybe that would be confusing if you look at her baseline stats where she’s totaled 12 goals on the season; down 8 from this time last year. But those stats don’t even begin to tell the whole story. The aforementioned injury from last year carried into this year which is one of a few reasons she has missed a ton of games this season. Temwa still leads the NWSL at 0.89 goals per 90; meaning it is not a stretch to believe she would lead the league in goals again this year had she been able to play a full season.
But let’s talk about one of the other reason she missed games. Temwa Chawinga was busy leading her country Malawi -- a population of 22 million near the southeast coast of Africa -- to a World Cup bid. She accomplished this in late July-mid August by guiding her team to the championship of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations; a tournament with huge implications… but not enough for the NWSL to pause play for. As someone who tuned into every match that Malawi played in this tourney, it was a truly spectacular and inspiring experience. Watching Temwa, her sister Tabitha, and the whole Malawi national team be so brutally underrated and then go out on the field and prove that they not only should be considered one of the top teams in Africa but also one of the dark horses to have success in the World Cup; was nothing short of extraordinary.
So has Temwa missed a lot of time this year? Yes. Is she going to win her third consecutive NWSL MVP award? No. But has 2026 been even more impressive and important than last year? I don’t think it would be a stretch to say yes.
Fast forward and everything is clicking for the Current right in time for the playoffs. But this time it’s not all of Kansas City that’s behind them. It’s all of Kansas City and seemingly all of Malawi. Yes, a country 8,000 miles away has so much love for their country and so much love for their star that they have hopped on board the KC Current fandom and are rooting just as hard as KC natives. We can’t even make a social media post about Temwa without getting hit by a Lake Malawi-sized wave of support from the proud natives there.
Temwa Chawinga and the KC Current have a tough test ahead going into the playoffs. But they have the support of millions behind them. This time around, Temwa’s healthy, Temwa’s ready, and if 2026 has taught us anything; it’s that pressure only makes her better.