Frank Mojah Dzuwa and Andrew Mdzumira
A week of long knives for Malawi football supporters, as three national football teams suffered defeats, with two eliminated from their tournaments.
The senior Flames were butchered in Angola, while the Under-23 and Under-20 teams were eliminated in Eswatini and Mozambique, respectively.
The Senior Team;
The Malawi National Football team coach Kalisto Pasuwa hopes that Malawi will do well at Bingu National Stadium when his charges welcome Angola.
Malawi suffered a 3-1 defeat away at Estadio 11 de Novembro in Luanda last night in their second group B match.
Al Jazira winger Felicio Milson pulled a shocker scoring in the third minute before captain Agostinho Paciência (Mabululu) doubled the advantage in the 38th minute.
Two minutes to the break Malawi had a lifeline, Kialonda Gaspar turned the ball into his own net from a Patrick Mwaungulu free kick.
Substitute Dinamo Makhachkala sealed their first victory in group B of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier, scoring at 71st minute, striking just three minutes after replacing Mabululu.
But Pasuwa is positive to still qualify despite a defeat. Malawi is third with 3 points which they collected over South Sudan. Egypt tops the group with 4 points with Angola following on the same points.
“Remember they will also need to [play] away, they will come to Malawi. So we’ll play our game and we make sure we get points for us to be at par with the other teams which are on top,” said Pasuwa.
Senior Team First 11
William Thole, MacDonald Lameck, Charles Petro ©, Denis Chembezi, Blessings Singini, Lloyd Njaliwa, Patrick Mwaungulu, Gomezgani Chirwa, Gaddie Chirwa, Babatunde Adepoju, Emmanuel Nyirenda
Flames under 23 eliminated
Malawi’s Junior Flames were eliminated from the TotalEnergies CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers after drawing 1-1 with Eswatini at Somhlolo National Stadium on Tuesday.
The Junior Flames went into the second leg trailing 1-0 after losing the first leg at Bingu National Stadium, where Sibonelo Vlakati scored Eswatini’s winning goal in the 73rd minute.
Eswatini took the lead in the second leg through Njongo Siphelele Mazibuko in the 76th minute, before John Francis Mchema equalised for Malawi in the 90th minute.
The match ended 1-1, with Eswatini advancing 2-1 on aggregate and ending Bob Mpinganjira’s men’s hopes of reaching the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations.
Under 23 first 11
Malawi Starting XI: Precious Masamba, Mwisho Mhango, Washali Jaziya, Hermas Masinja, James Lumbe, Alex Kambilinya, Lassuli Jali, Happy Mphepo (C), Misheck Billiat, Kondwani Tebulo and John Francis Mchema.
Zathapo for under 20 in Mozambique
Malawi Under-20 national football team finished second in Group C at the 2026 COSAFA U-20 Championship in Maputo, Mozambique, but failed to reach the semi-finals after falling short on goal difference.
The Junior Flames started the tournament with a 2-0 defeat to Zambia before responding with a 3-0 win over Botswana. They then completed their group campaign with a 2-1 victory over Comoros to finish on six points from three matches.
The Enos Chatama boys scored five goals and conceded three during the group stage, recording two wins and one defeat.
Despite collecting six points, the Junior Flames could not secure a semi-final place because of their inferior goal difference. The outcome also means Malawi has missed the opportunity to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations at Under-20 level.
