Ireen Khumalo

Ireen Khumalo
Khumalo in August 2026
Personal information
Date of birth (2003-12-12) 12 December 2003
Position Defender
Team information
Current team
 Silver Strikers Ladies F.C.
Number 5
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Ascent Academy
2022– Silver Strikers Ladies F.C.
2024 → Green Buffaloes Women F.C. (loan)
International career
– Malawi
Medal record
Representing  Malawi
Women's Africa Cup of Nations
Second place2026 Morocco
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ireen Khumalo (born 12 December 2003) is a Malawian professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Silver Strikers Ladies as well as the Malawi national women's football team.[1] In 2026 the team's performance was described as the most "remarkable by an international team in a major tournament ever" after finishing as runners-ups in their maiden Women's Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

Early life and education

Khumalo was one of the student-athletes from Ascent Academy; the academy has six players who have gone on to represent Malawi in the senior women's team, including Rose Kadzere.[2][3] During her time at Ascent, Khumalo captained the Ascent Girls Squad, and in 2019 she travelled to the United States to attend Julie Foudy's Sports Leadership Academy camp.[4]

Club career

Khumalo joined Silver Strikers Ladies (formerly known as DD Sunshine) in 2022 and was part of the squad when the team made their debut appearance at the CAF Women's Champions League COSAFA Qualifier in Gaborone, Botswana.[5]

In 2024, Khumalo joined Green Buffaloes Women in Zambia on loan from Silver Strikers Ladies for a year.[6] Khumalo played as a midfielder for the Zambian club.[7]

At the end of 2025, her club, Silver Strikers Ladies were recognised as the inaugural winners of the National Bank of Malawi (NBM) Women’s Premiership. This was an outstanding win as there were still three games to be played but her club's lead made them unbeatable. The winning match was against Kukoma Ntopwa Women and they won by 4–0. Khumalo scored one of the winning goals at the Silver Stadium in Lilongwe.[8]

International career

Ireen Khumalo in Gaborone, Botswana in 2026
Khumalo of Silver Strikers receives player of the match from Irene Gocalves in Botswana on 21 August 2026

Khumalo emerged as a top scorer during the 2025 COSAFA Women's Championship in South Africa, where she and fellow Scorchers and Silver Strikers Ladies player Deborah Henry, scored 3 goals each during the tournament. Khumalo's strike helped the Scorchers beat Angola 1–0 during the championship.[9]

Khumalo is one of the 23-member squad representing Malawi in their debut appearance at the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.[1] Khumalo is also on standby to cover goalkeeper Mercy Sikelo during tournament.[10] They were ranked 153rd and they were the lowest ranked team to reach the knockout stages after wins over favourites Nigeria.[11] In the semi-final against Algeria they won 3–1, however Khumalo was given a yellow card.[12] The team's performance at WAFCON was described as the most "remarkable by an international team in a major tournament ever".[11] The team made the final where they were defeated 3–0 by Cameroon who became the champions at their fourth time in a WAFCON final.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Fazili Names Final Scorchers Squad for WAFCON". Football Association of Malawi. 2026-07-11. Retrieved 2026-08-11.
  2. ↑ "Ascent makes some major noise on the international stage!". Ascent Soccer. 2025-03-05. Retrieved 2026-08-11.
  3. ↑ "Ascent Soccer proud of its 5 products in the triumphant Scorchers". 2023-10-19. Retrieved 2026-08-11.
  4. ↑ "Donate Now - Sponsor Ireen Khumalo by Ascent Soccer". Give Lively. Retrieved 2026-08-11.
  5. ↑ "Silver Strikers and ZESCO Ndola Girls Profiles". COSAFA - The Council of Southern Africa Football Associations. 2026-08-11. Retrieved 2026-08-11.
  6. ↑ "Ireen Khumalo Joins Green Buffalos of Zambia – Face of Malawi". Retrieved 2026-08-11.
  7. ↑ "Opposition Watch - WAFCON - Scorchers suffer defeat - ZamFoot". 2026-07-17. Retrieved 2026-08-11.
  8. ↑ "Silver Strikers Ladies Crowned Inaugural NBM Women's Premiership Champions". AfricaBrief. 2025-12-29. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  9. ↑ Malidadi, Mphatso (2026-03-03). "Scorchers duo among Cosafa top goal scorers". The Times Group. Retrieved 2026-08-11.
  10. ↑ Malidadi, Mphatso (2026-08-01). "Chasing dreams". The Times Group. Retrieved 2026-08-11.
  11. 1 2 "Is Malawi's WAFCON run the most remarkable major tournament performance ever?". www.espn.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  12. ↑ "Algeria (W) vs Malawi (W) 12/08/2026 Final Score". Futbol24. Retrieved 2026-08-19.
  13. ↑ "Wafcon 2026 final: Cameroon 3-0 Malawi - Marie Ngah Manga helps Indomitable Lionesses to first title". BBC Sport. 2026-08-16. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
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