One out of 10

Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, have won only once in their last 10 matches, prompting analysts to question the team’s progress under coach Kalisto Pasuwa.

This year, the Flames have won only one of six matches while their Fifa ranking has dropped to 131, just seven places above their all-time low of 138.

Their latest setback was a 3-1 defeat away to Angola in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers on October 6 2026.

Before that, the Flames also lost 1-0 to Namibia and 2-0 to Tunisia in March 2025. In the 2025 Cosafa Cup, Malawi suffered 1-0 defeats to Lesotho and Angola, while they lost 2-0 to South Africa in the 2025 African Nations Championship qualifiers.

During the 2025 Afcon qualifying campaign, Malawi lost twice to Senegal, going down 4-0 away on October 11 2024, before suffering a 1-0 home defeat four days later. The Flames also lost 3-1 to Burkina Faso and 3-2 to Burundi.

Other setbacks include a 1-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea in June 2024 and a 1-0 loss to Tunisia in November 2023 during World Cup qualification.

In an interview, football analyst Parry Chinyama questioned whether Pasuwa has made meaningful progress in building a competitive and settled side, pointing to frequent changes in player selection and disappointing results under the Zimbabwean coach.

Has to qualify for 2027 Afcon to keep his job: Pasuwa. |

Courtesy of FAM

Pasuwa was appointed in 2024 after Patrick Mabedi’s tenure ended following Malawi’s failure to qualify for the 2025 Afcon finals.

He signed a two-year contract in 2025, but his tenure has included a winless campaign at the 2025 Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Cup and a shock 1-0 defeat to Sao Tome and Principe.

By June 2026, Pasuwa had used 65 different players in 10 selections, comprising six goalkeepers, 19 defenders, 23 midfielders and 17 forwards.

Chinyama said the frequent changes had made it difficult to identify the core of the team Pasuwa intended to build.

“I do not know when the coach will build his team he keeps on saying. He is not consistent in his player selection. Every time there is Fifa Window, he has been changing players, he has been bringing new faces,” he said.

He questioned the direction of the rebuilding process, arguing that the number of players used had not translated into a clear team identity.

“Since he took over, I have not seen the proper direction of his rebuilding. He has been selecting many players and we cannot say that they are all bad. It’s amazing that he has used over 50 players, we are not sure about what he is doing,” said Chinyama.

In a separate interview, football analyst George Chiusiwa faulted FAM’s approach to coaching appointments, arguing that the association has always settled for average coaches without right mentality, tactical approach and ambition to build a competitive national team.

Chiusiwa said the Flames’ declining competitiveness was evident in their struggles against teams Malawi previously beat with relative ease.

“In the last decades, we could beat teams like Namibia and Zimbabwe easily. Today, we actually have problems beating small teams like Lesotho and Sao Tome and Principe,” he said.

He also faulted FAM for failing to set clear performance targets for coaches and regularly assess their work, saying measurable objectives would help establish whether the team was making progress.

However, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) communications officer Collins Nsunza defended the team, arguing that rebuilding takes time and that it is premature to judge the Flames based on their recent results.

In an interview yesterday, Nsunza said Pasuwa should be assessed at the end of the 2027 Afcon qualifying campaign, maintaining that the team still had a chance to qualify for the continental finals.

“We played two games and we won one and lost one. And I find it to be unfair to say we are just losing. For someone to make a better assessment of the performance, they have to wait until the end of 2027 because we believe we still have chances to qualify,” he said.

His position contrasts with FAM president Fleetwood Haiya’s declaration in March this year that the Flames’ rebuilding period was over and that the association expected the team to start winning competitions and qualifying for major tournaments.

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