Malawi Scorchers' 49-Place Surge Into World Cup History

Africa's breakout team of the year

FIFA published the October edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking on October 20, and no team moved like Malawi. The Malawi Scorchers climbed 49 places to 104th, the largest rise of any national team in this cycle, after reaching the final of the 2026 CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations. They also banked 158.44 ranking points, more than any other team in the world during the period, according to Inside World Football.

The run behind the leap came across July and August. Malawi beat Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana and Algeria at WAFCON before losing the final to Cameroon. The runners-up finish secured the country's first-ever place at the FIFA Women's World Cup, which Brazil hosts in 2027. Forward Temwa Chawinga, who plays club football for KC Current, told ESPN after qualification: "The whole world didn't believe in us. So [now] the whole world will know this team from Malawi, the Scorchers national team." Her comments were reported by Just Women's Sports.

A breakthrough year, not a one-off

The ranking rise was not built on WAFCON alone. Inside World Football notes that strong performances in CAF Olympic qualifying also fed into the points total, capping what it called a breakthrough year for the country's women's programme. The points haul was the biggest collected by any national team in the world during the period, which explains how a side that began the summer far outside the leading pack is now within sight of the world's top hundred teams. The campaign took Malawi from the group stage all the way to the final. Before this year, Malawi had never come close to the World Cup; now the finals in Brazil are a confirmed destination.

Spain tighten their grip at the top

Spain remain No. 1. The world champions sit on 2,121.50 points and stretched their lead over the United States to 79.12 points after taking four points from an October double header on American soil: a 2-0 win in Washington, D.C. on October 10, then a 2-2 draw in Chester, Pennsylvania days later, reported by Field Level Media. QNC News called the double header a high-profile occasion. Emma Hayes's United States side are second on 2,042.38 points, with Germany only 7.76 points further back in third after winning both of their latest home friendlies. La Roja have led the ranking since August 2025, reported by Field Level Media, and the rest of the top nine was unchanged.

Denmark are back in the top ten for the first time in sixteen years, climbing two places to 10th after a 1-1 draw in Montreal and a 4-3 win in Toronto against Canada. Canada, who hosted both matches, sit ninth in the table. The Netherlands and North Korea each dropped one place to eleventh and twelfth respectively. England stay fourth on 2,025.47 points, ahead of Japan, France, Brazil, Sweden and Canada.

The rest of the movers

Cameroon, the new African champions, climbed nine places to 62nd. Tanzania climbed to 111th, Burkina Faso moved up to 109th and Vanuatu climbed 8 places to 100th. Slovenia reached a national-record thirty-sixth after a 5-3 aggregate win over Türkiye sent them through to Round 2 of Europe's World Cup qualifying play-offs. At the other end, Egypt suffered the sharpest fall of any team, dropping fourteen places to 113th after losing all three of their WAFCON group-stage matches by a combined 15-3 and missing the knockout stage, a collapse unfolding alongside reported FIFA disciplinary action around the country's football programme. Zimbabwe fell 9 places to 136th and DR Congo slid eight places to 114th.

What comes next

A total of 183 internationals fed into the latest ranking, including World Cup qualifiers across Europe and Africa, CAF Olympic preliminaries and friendlies. The table will be updated again on December 7, and with the World Cup in Brazil on the horizon Spain are confirmed as the team to beat, according to QNC News. For Malawi, the next stop is the World Cup itself. In other sports news this week, Detroit stunned Boston on the NBA's opening night.