Malawi coach Lovemore Fazili has praised Ghana for their performance despite the Scorchers’ historic 2-1 victory over the Black Queens in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Rose Kadzere scored the decisive goal in the second half to send Malawi into the semi-finals for the first time and secure their qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Fazili said Ghana deserved respect, particularly given the two friendly matches the teams played before the tournament.

“Yeah, first of all, I think as a coach, together with my technical panel, I have to give respect to Ghana. And to be honest with you, we have played almost two friendly international matches with Ghana, last year and this year. So, respect to them.”

Ghana took the lead through Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah before Malawi fought back to win the game.

The defeat ended Ghana’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals, but the Black Queens will have another opportunity to qualify for the World Cup through the African play-off against Côte d’Ivoire.

Malawi will face Algeria in the semi-finals.