The Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, will know its opponents in the 2025 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifiers next Thursday.
This follows an announcement from the Confederations of African Football (Caf) that the draw for the competition will be conducted next Thursday at a venue to be announced.
Caf has arranged special qualifiers that will involve seven nations, namely Malawi, South Africa, Gabon, Gambia, Comoros, Egypt and Algeria, after they had withdrawn from the initial qualifiers last year.
“The first round is scheduled to take place from this month end with the first leg between February 28 and March 2, while the second leg will follow from March 7 to 9,” a Football Association of Malawi (Fam) statement reads.
The second round is scheduled for between May 2 and 4 whereas the second leg will be played from May 9 to 11 this year.
The seven teams will be battling for the remaining slots at this year’s finals.
Two teams will be placed in Group C alongside Uganda, Niger and Guinea.
Normally, Chan, which is specifically for local-based players, is a 16-team competition.
But with three countries of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya hosting this year’s finals, the number of teams rose to 18.
Caf then made a decision to add more teams to make it a 20- team tournament.
Fam Competitions and Communications Director Gomezgani Zakazaka said the team was expected to start preparations soon.
“The qualifiers will start in the next two weeks; so, we will release details on the team’s preparations soon,” Zakazaka said.
Zimbabwean coach Kalisto Pasuwa is expected to lead the team in the qualifiers after the Fam Executive Committee endorsed him as Flames coach.
Pasuwa, who won 16 silverwares with FCB Nyasa Big Bullets for six years, impressed as Flames interim coach, having collected four points in two Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers following a 3-0 victory over Burkina Faso and a goal-less draw against Burundi.
Sports analyst Parry George Kaudza Masina said Malawi’s chances depended on preparations.
“Looking at the other six teams, the Flames are underdogs. We can pull a surprise if we prepare well and also select players on merit,” Kaudza Masina said.
Since its inception in 2009, Malawi have never qualified for the biennial tournament finals.
Malawi came close to qualification in 2022 but were eliminated on away goal-rule after a 1-1 stalemate against Mozambique on aggregate.
They drew 1-1 with Mozambique at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe before a goal-less stalemate at Zimpeto National Stadium in Maputo, Mozambique.
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