External links
- Charles Petro at FC Botoșani (in Romanian)
- Charles Petro at Global Sports Archive
- Charles Petro at National-Football-Teams.com
- Charles Petro at Soccerway
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Charles Petro | ||
| Date of birth | 8 February 2001 | ||
| Place of birth | Blantyre, Malawi | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Positions | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Botoșani | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2018 | PremierBet Wizards | ||
| 2018–2019 | Big Bullets | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2019 | Big Bullets Reserves | ||
| 2019–2020 | Big Bullets | ||
| 2020–2022 | Sheriff Tiraspol | 43 | (2) |
| 2023– | Botoșani | 91 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017–2018 | Malawi U20 | ||
| 2019– | Malawi | 45 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 16 October 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 6 October 2026 | |||
John Charles Petro (born 8 February 2001) is a Malawian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or a defender for Liga I club Botoșani and the Malawi national team, which he captains.
Petro joined Big Bullets in 2018, initially playing with their reserve squad in the second-tier Southern Region Football League before being promoted to the first team ahead of the 2019 season, making an instant impact and playing an instrumental role in their second consecutive Super League championship win. For his performance filling in the gap left by injured team captain John Lanjesi, he was named Defender of the Year while also being nominated for the Player of the Year award at the annual league awards ceremony.
After rejecting a trial with South African side Polokwane City, Petro instead underwent a month-long trial at Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol in early 2020. He officially made the move to the club by signing a three-year deal in February.
On 7 March 2023, Petro signed with Romanian Liga I club Botoșani on a two-year deal. At the time, he was one of only two Malawian footballers playing in Europe, along with Kieran Ngwenya. Petro made his debut for Botoșani in a 1–1 league draw against Mioveni on 10 March.
Petro represented the Malawi national under-20 football team at the 2017 COSAFA U-20 Cup and during the 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualifiers.
He made his senior international debut on 20 April 2019, replacing Gomezgani Chirwa during a 0–0 draw against Eswatini in the 2020 African Nations Championship qualifiers. He also played for Malawi at the 2019 COSAFA Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Big Bullets | 2019 | Super League of Malawi | ? | ? | ? | ? | — | — | ? | ? | ||
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 2020–21 | Divizia Națională | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 26 | 1 | |
| 2021–22 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 1 | ||
| 2022–23 | Moldovan Super Liga | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Total | 43 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 57 | 2 | ||
| Botoșani | 2022–23 | Liga I | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 26 | 1 | ||||
| 2025–26 | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 37 | 1 | |||
| 2026–27 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 91 | 1 | 9 | 1 | — | 3 | 0 | 103 | 2 | |||
| Career total | 134 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 160 | 4 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malawi | |||
| 2019 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 45 | 0 | |
Big Bullets
Sheriff Tiraspol
Individual
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