Rose Alufandika

Rose Alufandika
in 2025
Personal information
Date of birth (2005-11-04) 4 November 2005
Position Defender
Team information
Current team
 Kukoma Ntopwa FC
International career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
The Malawi National Women's Football Team
Medal record
Women's Africa Cup of Nations
Silver medal – second place2026 Morocco

Rose Alufandika (born 4 November 2005) is a Malawian professional footballer who plays for the Malawi National Women's Football Team, the Scorchers. Alufandika is a critical part of the Scorchers' defence strategy.[1]

Club career

Alufandika plays club football for Kukoma Ntopwa FC, also known as the Ntopwa Queens.[2]

Kukoma Ntopwa fared poorly during the 2025 CAF Women's Champions League COSAFA Qualifiers, losing their last group stage match against Zesco Ndola Girls, with Alufandika scoring a goal with ten minutes to full time.[3]

International career

Alufandika was one of the twenty-three-member squad for the Malawi National Women's Football Team's (Scorchers) debut at the 2026 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON); she was also one of the core team that played during the qualification campaign and international friendly matches ahead of the finals.[1] They were ranked 153rd and they were the rank outsiders before play started.[4]

Alufandika received a straight red card in the 51st minute of the match between the Scorchers and Egypt during WAFCON; the Scorchers went on to win the game despite playing with ten players after her expulsion.[5] Her suspension also forced Malawi Coach Lovemore Fazili to replace his key defender for the WAFCON game against the Copper Queens of Zambia.[6] The Zambian National Women's Team won the match against the Scorchers two to one but were eliminated from the WAFCON group stage after Nigeria defeated Egypt in the other Group C match; Malawi qualified for the knockout stage of WAFCON as well as for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.[7]

Alufandika was chosen for the squad by Lovemore Fazili[8] to compete at the Scorchers debut at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2026. She played in the team's victory over Egypt in the group stage. However, Alufandika was given a red card after 52 minutes and sent off.[9] Fazili described that as unfortunate,[8] however the team's successes continued and they became a finalist in their debut cup - facing Cameroon in the final.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 "Fazili unveils wafcon squad". Nation Online. 2026-07-11. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
  2. ↑ "NTOPWA QUEENS' ROAD TO THE CAF WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFIERS". Football Association of Malawi. 2023-08-29. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
  3. ↑ Kambuwe, Mabvuto (2025-08-27). "Ntopwa finish last at Cosafa tourney". The Times Group. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
  4. ↑ "WAFCON final Malawi run most..." www.espn.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  5. ↑ "Malawi down Egypt despite red card to progress at WAFCON". www.tribalfootball.com. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
  6. ↑ Kanjere, Peter (2026-08-05). "Lovemore Fazili reveals 'Plan B' for WAFCON suspension". Pan Africa Football. Retrieved 2026-08-14.
  7. ↑ Griffin, Tamerra (2026-08-06). "Zambia eliminated from WAFCON group stage, ending 2027 World Cup hopes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-14.
  8. 1 2 Kanjere, Peter (2026-08-02). "Malawi coach credits team character after WAFCON win". Pan Africa Football. Retrieved 2026-08-22.
  9. ↑ Chahid, Ikram (2026-08-01). "Egypt Crash Out of WAFCON After Malawi Defeat". Morocco World News. Retrieved 2026-08-22.
  10. ↑ "MATCH STATS: Cameroon face Malawi in historic WAFCON final". MATCH STATS: Cameroon face Malawi in historic WAFCON final. Retrieved 2026-08-22.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.