Africa: Silver Strikers and Zesco Ndola Girls Profiles

The CAF Women’s Champions League | COSAFA Qualifier Botswana 2026 will be played in Gaborone from August 20-29. There are eight teams competing this year as they all seek the single place reserved for the winners at the CAF Women’s Champions League continental finals.

Here are profiles of two of the teams: debutantes Silver Strikers from Malawi and last year’s runners-up ZESCO United Girls.

SILVER STRIKERSSilver Strikers Ladies will make their debut at the CAF Women’s Champions League | COSAFA Qualifier when they travel to Gaborone for the 2026 tournament, but they arrive with a growing reputation following an outstanding domestic campaign.

The Lilongwe-based side qualified after winning the inaugural National Bank of Malawi Women’s Premiership, becoming the third Malawian club to compete in the regional qualifier after Ntopwa FC and Ascent Soccer Academy.

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Silver Strikers Ladies have been drawn in a tough Group B alongside two-time regional and continental champions Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, Mozambique’s Costa do Sol and fellow debutantes Nsingizini Hotspurs from Eswatini. The top two teams in the pool will advance to the semi-finals.

Their first match will be against Costa do Sol as they seek to become the first Malawian club to progress beyond the group stages of the competition.

The Silver Strikers Ladies name is relatively new, but the team has deeper roots in Malawian women’s football. They were formerly known as DD Sunshine before becoming part of the Silver Strikers set-up in 2023. The old DD Sunshine club played an important role in the development of Malawi stars Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga, who have gone on to become two of the biggest names in African women’s football.

The Central Bankers Ladies narrowly missed out on domestic honours when they lost the 2024 Goshen-FAM Women’s Championship final to Ntopwa on penalties following a 1-1 draw in March 2025, but responded in style in the new national league.

Under coach Andrew Chikhosi, Silver Strikers won 16 of their 18 matches on the way to the inaugural NBM Women’s Premiership crown. Chikhosi’s work earned him the 2025 Malawi Women’s Coach of the Year award.

Their biggest attacking threat is forward Deborah Henry, who enjoyed a sensational league season. She scored 23 goals in 18 appearances, finishing as the competition’s leading scorer, and was rewarded with both the NBM Women’s Premiership Player of the Season and Malawi Women’s Player of the Year awards.

There is also plenty of international experience in the squad. Five Silver Strikers players were selected in Malawi’s 23-player squad for the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026: defenders Ireen Khumalo and Tionge Phiri, midfielders Madyina Nguluwe and Chikondi Gondwe, and Henry.

That experience should prove valuable when they step into unfamiliar territory in Gaborone.

Chikhosi is under no illusions about the difficulty of their pool, but believes his side can compete after an extended period of preparation.

“We expected such a tough draw. All the teams are champions of their respective countries,” he said. “We have a good team that can compete.”

ZESCO NDOLA GIRLS

ZESCO Ndola Girls return to the CAF Women’s Champions League | COSAFA Qualifier in Gaborone with unfinished business after coming agonisingly close to the regional title on their tournament debut in 2025.

The Ndola-based side were one of the revelations of last year’s competition in Johannesburg, reaching the final before losing 4-3 on penalties to Gaborone United Ladies after a 1-1 draw.

They return as back-to-back Zambia Women’s Super League champions and will hope to go one better and become the second Zambian club after Green Buffaloes in 2022 to win the regional crown.

ZESCO’s rise has been impressive. They broke Green Buffaloes’ four-year grip on the Zambian championship when they claimed their maiden league title in 2024/25, going through the entire 34-game campaign unbeaten with 31 victories and three draws. Penelope Mulubwa led their charge with an extraordinary 35 league goals.

They successfully defended that title in 2025/26, sealing back-to-back championships with a 7-0 victory over Luyando Foundation Girls in May that took them to an unassailable 85 points.

Their first taste of the COSAFA qualifier in 2025 proved equally impressive. ZESCO opened with a 3-0 victory over Namibia’s Beauties FC before suffering a narrow 1-0 loss to two-time champions Mamelodi Sundowns. They then beat Malawi’s Ntopwa FC 5-3 to advance to the semi-finals as the best runners-up.

That set up a rematch with Sundowns, where the Zambian champions produced one of the tournament’s biggest shocks. ZESCO defeated the South African giants 2-1 to book their place in the final and hand Sundowns what remains their only defeat in ordinary time in the history of the COSAFA qualifiers.

They came within moments of lifting the trophy against Gaborone United. An own goal from Jackline Chomba gave the Botswana side the lead just before halftime, but Fridah Kabwe headed home a dramatic late equaliser after a long-range effort had struck the crossbar. With the score still 1-1 after extra-time, Gaborone United prevailed 4-3 in the penalty shoot-out to deny ZESCO a place at the continental finals.

They will have an immediate opportunity for revenge in Gaborone after being drawn in a difficult Group A alongside defending champions and hosts Gaborone United, Zimbabwe’s Herentals Queens and Lesotho Defence Force.

ZESCO have prepared extensively for their second regional campaign, including a training camp in Dar es Salaam with friendly matches against Tanzanian heavyweights JKT Queens and Simba Queens.

Their squad also contains players with senior international experience, including captain Chitundu, Phiri and goalkeeper Hazel Nali, who were involved with Zambia’s Copper Queens at the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026.

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