Make or break for Malawi Under-20

The Malawi Under-20 National Football Team has a date with destiny as it faces Botswana at the ongoing 2026 U-20 Caf Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon)/ Cosafa qualifiers at ABB 2 Stadium this afternoon.

The match kicks off at 2pm.

Malawi will be looking to bounce back quickly after suffering a 2-0 loss to Zambia in the opening match on Friday.

Following the loss, the junior Flames are bottom of Group C whereas Zambia top the group with three points.

Botswana and Comoros are second and third, respectively, after settling for a goal-less stalemate in their opening match.

Zambia will face Comoros in another Group C match.

The Malawi team still has mathematical chances of qualifying for the semi-finals if it wins all its remaining matches.

Group winners, along with the best runnerup across all the three groups, will advance to the semi-final stage.

However, a win for Zambia in today’s match against Comoros would make life difficult for Malawi to finish top of Group C due to head-tohead record.

The Zambia team has a better head-to-head record against Malawi after a 2-0 win.

Malawi U-20 coach Enos Chatama, who watched the loss to Zambia from the stands due to competition regulations, is likely to return to the dugout this afternoon.

Caf has cleared him to lead the team despite having a Caf B-Coaching licence.

Chatama is likely to reshuffle the team that lost to Zambia, with captain Mwisho Mhango likely to lead the team.

Last year, Malawi finished second after suffering a 3-0 loss to South Africa.