Under-20 boost Cosafa semis hopes

The Malawi Under-20 National Football Team, the junior Flames, revived their semi-final stage hopes at the 2026 Caf Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers following a 3-0 victory over Botswana at ABB Stadium 2 in Maputo, Mozambique, Monday.

It was their first win at the tournament after suffering a 2-0 loss to Zambia in their opening match on Friday.

The win means Malawi remain in contention for a spot in the last four at the tournament.

Malawi are second in Group C with three points from two matches, three points behind leaders Zambia, who also defeated Comoros by a similar margin in an another match yesterday.

The junior Flames are in a tricky situation as it stands, with Zambia looking poised to finish top of the group.

If Malawi beat Comoros or Zambia lose to Botswana, the Young Chipolopolo would still finish above Malawi on head-to-head grounds after they beat Malawi 2-0.

However, the junior Flames can progress to the semi-finals as the overall best runner-up depending on the results in Group A and B.

In a match monitored on Cosafa You Tube Channel, goals from player-of-the-match Misheck Biliati, Clever Kalambo and a substitute were enough to secure all the three points for Malawi.

The junior Flames were handed a boost after coach Enos Chatama returned to the dug-out after he was cleared by Caf after missing the Zambia match as he does not have a Caf A-coaching licence, which is a minimum requirement for all Caf competitions.

Chatama made three changes to the starting line-up as Clever Kalambo, Webster Mzunda and Felix Jalasi were thrown into the fray ahead of Lameck Mithi and Chikondi Likambale.

James Lumbe was not even on the bench.

Malawi will wrap up the group stage campaign against Comoros at ABB Stadium 2 Wednesday whereas Zambia will meet Botswana.