Tabitha Chawinga


Tabitha Chawinga is a Malawian footballer who plays as a forward for Jiangsu Suning in the Chinese Women's Super League and the Malawi women's national team.

Early life

Born in Malawi, Chawinga is the middle child of five children born to her parents. She began playing football at age five and played with boys until age 13 when she began playing for girls' club, DD Sunshine.

Playing career

Krokom/Dvärsätts IF, 2014

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

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. The club finished in first place during the regular season with a record. Chawinga was the league's top scorer with 43 goals – 14 more than the next highest scorer. The club's first place finish secured them promotion to the Damallsvenskan for the 2016 season.
During the 2016 season, Chawinga was the third highest scorer in the league with 15 goals.
In 2017, she finished as the league's top scorer with 26 goals, despite her club's relegation from the Swedish top flight at the end of the season.

Jiangsu Suning, 2018–present

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

Honors and awards

; Team
; Individual