Tabitha Chawinga

Tabitha Chawinga
Personal information
Date of birth	22 May 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Rumphi, Malawi
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Lyon
Senior career*
Years	Team
2009–2014	DD Sunshine
2014	Krokom/Dvärsätts IF [sv]
2015–2017	Kvarnsvedens IK
2018–2020	Jiangsu Suning
2021–2024	Wuhan Jianghan University
2022–2023	→ Inter Milan (loan)
2023–2024	→ Paris Saint-Germain (loan)
2024-	Lyon
International career
2011–	Malawi
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 July 2024

Tabitha Chawinga (born 22 May 1996) is a Malawian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Première Ligue club Lyon and the Malawi national team.

Early life

Born on May 19, 1996, in Rumphi District in northern Malawi, Chawinga is the third of five children born to her parents. She is a Tumbuka by tribe. She began playing football at age five and played with boys until age 13 when she began playing for girls' club, DD Sunshine in the capital city, Lilongwe.^[1] Already at this age she was forced to undress because "Her opponents did not believe she was female because of her physical appearance and how well she played."^[2] Her sister Temwa Chawinga is also a professional footballer.^[3]

Club career

Krokom/Dvärsätts IF, 2014

At age 18, Chawinga played for Swedish third-division club Krokom/Dvärsätts IF [sv], where she earned the league's golden boot after scoring 39 goals in 18 games.^[4] She was the first women's footballer from Malawi to play for a European club.^[5]

Kvarnsvedens IK, 2015–2017

Chawinga joined Kvarnsvedens IK in Sweden's Elitettan in 2015. In her debut for the club, she scored a brace in a 4–0 win over Linköpings FC.^[6] The club finished in first place during the regular season with a 21–2–3 record.^[7] Chawinga was the league's top scorer with 43 goals – 14 more than the next highest scorer.^[7] The club's first place finish secured them promotion to the Damallsvenskan for the 2016 season.^[8]

During the 2016 season, Chawinga was the third highest scorer in the league with 15 goals.^[9]

In 2017, she finished as the league's top scorer with 26 goals,^[10] despite her club's relegation from the Swedish top flight at the end of the season.

Jiangsu Suning, 2018–2021

After successful spells in Sweden, Chawinga gained the interest from various top clubs abroad^[11] and eventually signed for Chinese side Jiangsu Suning,^[12] reportedly for a record-breaking transfer fee in Swedish women's football.^[13]^[14] On 6 May 2018, she scored the winning goal in her full-length debut away to Shanghai.^[15]

Chawinga received the Player of the Year Award in her debut season playing in the Chinese Women's Super League. She scored 31 goals in all competitions, 17 being in the CWSL.^[16] She retained the award in 2019–20, scoring 12 league goals (38 in all competitions) and helping Jiangsu to a historic quadruple.^[17]

Wuhan Jiangda 2021–present

After the main sponsor of Jiangsu Suning stopped supporting Chawinga, she moved to Wuhan Jiangda where her sister Temwa plays.^[3] Wuhan sent her on successive loan spells to Inter Milan and Paris Saint Germain.

Inter Milan (loan), 2022–23

Chawinga signed a one-year loan deal with Inter Milan for the 2022–23 season.^[18] She was the top scorer in Serie A with 23 goals for Inter Milan, 16 of them in the regular season. She was the first African woman to be the highest-scoring player in Serie A.^[17]

Paris Saint-Germain (loan), 2023–

Chawinga joined Paris Saint-Germain on a season long loan deal.^[19] Chawinga reunited with manager Gérard Prêcheur, under whom she had worked during the 2018–19 CWSL season with Jiangsu Suning.^[20] However, he left the position in September 2023.^[21]

Chawinga scored her first goal for PSG in a 1–0 victory away at Saint-Etienne.^[22] She also became the first Malawian to play and score in the UEFA Women's Champion's League with her goal in a 1–1 tie with Manchester United.^[23]

In the 74th minute against BK Häcken in the first leg of the 2023–24 Champions League quarterfinal, Chawinga scored the winning goal making it 2–1.^[24]

International career

Chawinga serves as captain for Malawi.^[25]

Due to club football, Chawinga was absent from Malawi's 2023 victory in the COSAFA Women's Championship.^[26]

Personal life

Chawinga's sister Temwa is also a Malawian international footballer.^[3]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition. Only official games are included in this table.^[27]^[28]^[29]
Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
DD Sunshine	2009-10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2010-11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2011-12	14	40	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	40
	2012-13	10	43	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	43
	2013-14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total		24	83	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	83
Krokom/Dvärsätts IF [sv]	2014	18	39	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	39
Kvarnsvedens IK	2015	26	43	0	0	0	0	0	0	26	43
	2016	22	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	15
	2017	22	25	1	1	0	0	0	0	23	26
Total		70	83	1	1	0	0	0	0	71	86
Jiangsu Suning	2018	14	17	0	0	1	0	0	0	15	17
	2019	14	12	2+	6	1	0	3	3	20+	21
	2020	12	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	7
Total		40	36	2+	6	2	0	0	0	44+	42
Wuhan Jianghan University	2021	14	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	9
	2022	10	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	8
	2023	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3
Total		27	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	27	20
Inter Milan (loan)	2022–23	23	23	4	3	0	0	0	0	27	26
Paris Saint-Germain (loan)	2023–24	21	19	5	4	0	0	12	6	38	29
Paris Saint-Germain (loan)	Total	223	303	11+	14	2	0	13	8	239+	325+

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	13 September 2017	Barbourfields Stadium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe	Zambia	1–0	3–6	2017 COSAFA Women's Championship
2.				2–3
3.				3–5
4.	15 September 2017		Madagascar	1–0	6–3
5.				2–0
6.				5–3
7.				6–3
8.	17 September 2017	Luveve Stadium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	2–3	3–3
9.	17 September 2017	Luveve Stadium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	3–3	3–3
10.	4 April 2019	Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi	Mozambique	1–0	11–1	2020 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
11.				3–0
12.				11–0
13.	9 April 2019	Estádio do Zimpeto, Maputo, Mozambique	Mozambique	2–0	3–0
14.	28 August 2019	Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi	Kenya	2–1	3–2
15.	28 August 2019	Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi	Kenya	3–1	3–2
16.	7 November 2020	Wolfson Stadium, Ibhayi, South Africa	Lesotho	2–0	9–0	2020 COSAFA Women's Championship
17.				4–0
18.				5–0
19.				6–0
20.				8–0
21.				9–0
22.	12 November 2020		South Africa	2–6	2–6
23.	5 September 2022	NMU Stadium, Gqeberha, South Africa	Comoros	3–0	6–0	2022 COSAFA Women's Championship
24.				4–0
25.				5–0