Frank Mojah Dzuwa 

The Malawi U-17 National Football Team boosted their chances of reaching the next stage of the COSAFA U-17 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers after edging out Zambia 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Hearts Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Fresh from a convincing 3-1 victory over Madagascar, the Junior Flames showed resilience once again, coming from behind to stun the defending champions.

Zambia struck first in the 20th minute when Albert Kaunda rose highest to head past goalkeeper Jacob Banda.

But Malawi regrouped quickly. Midfielder James Lumbe emerged as the hero of the day, scoring twice in the first half. He netted the equalizer in the 30th minute before completing his brace on the stroke of halftime to hand Malawi the lead.

Despite Zambia’s late pressure, including another effort from Kaunda, Enos Chatama’s boys stood firm to seal a famous victory and strengthen their hopes of progression. Zambia, who had earlier suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat to South Africa, bowed out of the competition same as Madagascar who also lost 5-1 to South Africa.

Speaking after the match, Head Coach Enos Chatama said: “It was a tough game because Zambia were playing long balls, while our boys are a bit short in height. But we told them to close the back properly. We won tactically, but if you look at our depth, we didn’t have much, and if you assess player by player, the depth is limited.”

The win sets up a crucial Group B decider between Malawi and South Africa on Tuesday, which will determine the group’s top spot.

Only the top team in each pool advances to the last 4, along with the best runner—up across the three groups.

Malawi Starting XI: 23 Jacob Banda, 4 Hastings Makwenda, 5 Joel Maziya, 6 Moffat Mnyontho, 8 Joel Yakobe, 10 James Lumbe, 11 Okestar Kanyenda, 14 Tadala Mughogho, 15 Francis Alfanzema, 17 Faizal Mangulenje Phiri, 18 Shabani Daud.