The Malawi national football team () represents

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and is controlled by the Football Association of Malawi. Before 1966, it was known as the Nyasaland national football team. Known as the Flames, Malawi has qualified for three

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

, in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. They also won the

CECAFA Cup The CECAFA Cup, formerly the Gossage Cup (1926–1966) and the East and Central African Senior Challenge Cup (1967–1971), is the oldest football tournament in Africa. It is organized by the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associati ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and 1988 and finished fourth in the 2024 Four Nations Football Tournament.

History

Coaches

The first full-time coach of the Malawi national football team was Ron Meades. The

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

arranged for his appointment through the English Football Association to coach the team for the Republic Celebrations, playing Madagascar and

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. Ray Batchelor was coach for four years from 11 November 1967 to 10 October 1971, guiding the team in 23

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

es and two

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. Players during this time included future coaches in Henry Moyo, Brian Griffin, and Yasin Osman. Other coaches included Brazilian Wander Moreira, British Ted Powell, and the first locally-born coach, Alex Masanjala, who was appointed as an interim before Henry Moyo. Moyo was the first former national player to coach the Flames, and stayed in the position for five years. As of January 2019, only nine coaches had been in charge for more than 20 games. The most successful coaches were Powell, Moyo, and Kim Splidsboel (2000–2002) from Denmark.

Tournaments

Malawi first qualified for an

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

, when only eight teams competed in the tournament in Ivory Coast. After a 3-0 defeat against

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, World Cup participants in 1982 and 1986, the Malawi drew 2-2 in the second game against eventual finalists

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. With a 0–1 loss against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, Malawi ended the group stage with 1 point at the bottom of the table and was eliminated from the tournament. After 26 years, Malawi took part in an

again in

. The team benefited from the fact that the continental elimination round for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

also served as the qualifying round for AFCON. In the group matches of the third round, Malawi, third place behind

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

and with a record of only four points and 4–11 goal difference, was enough to make it to the continental finals. At the tournament in Angola, Kinnah Phiri's team caused a big surprise. In the first group game, Malawi defeated

, which had qualified for the World Cup, 3-0. One of the goalscorers was striker Russel Mwafulirwa, who at the time was under contract for the Swedish first division club

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollför ...

and was thus one of only two players in the 23-man squad active in Europe. Malawi lost the second game against hosts

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

, 2-0. For Malawi to have reached the quarter-finals for the first time, a draw in the last group game would have been enough. However, the team lost 3-1 to

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. After just three minutes, the Malawians were 2-0 down, a goal from Mwafulirwa did nothing to avert the team's elimination.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2024

2025

Coaching staff

Coaching history

:Caretaker coaches are listed in ''italics'' * Jack Chamangwana (1998–99) * Young Chimodzi (1999–00) * Kim Splidsboel (2000–02) * '' Alan Gillett'' (2003) * '' Edington Ng'onamo'' (2003–04) * John Kaputa (2004) * Yassin Osman (2004–05) * '' Michael Hennigan'' (2005) * Burkhard Ziese (2005–06) * '' Kinnah Phiri'' (2006–07) *

Stephen Constantine Stephen Constantine (born 16 October 1962) is an English professional football coach and former player who is the manager of the Pakistan national football team. Early and personal life Constantine was born on 16 October 1962 in London. He is ...

(2007–08) * Kinnah Phiri (2009–12) * '' Edington Ng'onamo'' (2012–13) * '' Tom Saintfiet'' (2013) * Young Chimodzi (2014–15) * '' Ernest Mtawali'' (2015–16) * '' Ramadhan Nsanzurwimo'' (2016–17) * '' Gerald Phiri Sr.'' (2017) * Ronny Van Geneugden (2017–19) * Meke Mwase (2019–2021) * Mario Marinică (2021–2023) * Patrick Mabedi (2023–2024) * '' Kalisto Pasuwa'' (2024–present)

Players

Current squad

The following players were named to the squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group H matches against

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

on 20 and 24 March 2025. ''Caps and goals correct as of: 18 November 2024, after the match against

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up in 12 months preceding the above draft.

Records

:''Players in bold are still active with Malawi.''

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competition records

FIFA World Cup

Africa Cup of Nations

African Games

Head-to-head record

''As of 10 June 2025 after match against ''

Honours

Continental

Football at the African Games The men's association football tournament has been held at every edition of the African Games since 1965. Women's competition was added in 2003. History The first tournament started in 1965 in Brazzaville, Congo and was won by the hosts Congo. ...

¹ ** Bronze medal (1): 1987

Regional

** Champions (3):

, 1988 ** Runners-up (3):

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

**Third place (3):

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

# Competition organized by the

Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

, officially not recognized by FIFA.

References

External links

*
Malawi
at CAF
Malawi
at

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malawi National Football Team African national association football teams