Under-20 fall to Zambia

The Malawi Under-20 National Football Team, the Junior Flames’ hopes of qualifying for the 2026 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) suffered a setback following a 2-0 loss to Zambia.

The match was played at Zimpeto Stadium in Maputo, Mozambique yesterday. This means the Junior Flames must win the two remaining matches against Botswana and Comoros to keep their semi-finals dream alive. Malawi will face Botswana in their second match on Monday before wrapping up their group stage campaign against Comoros on Wednesday.

Following the defeat, Malawi are bottom of Group C without a point after playing one match. In a match monitored on Cosafa Television, substitute Billy Daka was the hero for Zambia when he scored a brace towards the end of the match.

Daka opened the scoring with a fine header in the 80th minute of the match. He was not done yet as he completed his brace in the 96th minute to seal the victory for Zambia.

It was a perfect revenge for Zambia having lost 2-1 to the Junior Flames during the 2025 Cosafa Cup at the Region 5 Youth Games in Windhoek, Namibia.

For the better part of the match, the Junior Flames were second best. It was a disappointing performance for Malawi especially in the first half. Zambia had the ball into the net twice in the first half but Video Assistant Referee (VAR) denied them on both occasions.

After the break, Malawi assistant coach Mapopa Msukwa, made a double substitution when he introduced Yusuf Nantunga and Kenneth Mwale for Lameck Mithi and James Lumbe.

The changes brought some life into the team’s attack. Captain Mwisho Mhango linked up well with Misheck Biliati and Nantunga. However, the Junior Flames were unable to find the breakthrough.

Msukwa was disappointed with the loss.

“We did not have time to feel the pitch as we were training on the artificial turf. We will catch up,” Msukwa said.

Group winners along with the best runner-up across all the three pools will advance to the semi-finals. Malawi reached the final last year but lost 3-0 to South Africa in Namibia. It was the first time for Malawi to reach the last two in 20 years.