Malawi national football team

The Malawi national football team represents Malawi in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Malawi. Before 1966, it was known as the Nyasaland national football team.

They have qualified for three Africa Cup of Nations, in 1984, 2010 and 2021. They also won the CECAFA Cup in 1978, 1979 and 1988, and they also got fourth place in the 2024 Four Nations Football Tournament.

Coaches
The first full-time coach of the Malawi national football team was Ron Meades. The British Council arranged for his appointment through the English Football Association to coach the team for the Republic Celebrations, playing Madagascar and Zambia. Ray Batchelor was coach for four years from 11 November 1967 to 10 October 1971, guiding the team in 23 friendly matches and two Olympic Games. Players during this time included future coaches in Henry Moyo, Brian Griffin, and Yasin Osman. Other coaches included Brazilian Wander Moreira, British Ted Powell, and the first locally-born coach, Alex Masanjala, who was appointed as an interim before Henry Moyo. Moyo was the first former national player to coach the Flames, and stayed in the position for five years. As of January 2019, only nine coaches had been in charge for more than 20 games. The most successful coaches were Powell, Moyo, and Kim Splidsboel (2000–2002) from Denmark.

Tournaments
Malawi first qualified for an African Cup of Nations in 1984, when only eight teams competed in the tournament in Ivory Coast. After a 3-0 defeat against Algeria, World Cup participants in 1982 and 1986, the Malawi drew 2-2 in the second game against eventual finalists Nigeria. With a 0–1 loss against Ghana, Malawi ended the group stage with 1 point at the bottom of the table and was eliminated from the tournament.

After 26 years, Malawi took part in an Africa Cup of Nations again in 2010. The team benefited from the fact that the continental elimination round for the 2010 FIFA World Cup also served as the qualifying round for AFCON. In the group matches of the third round, Malawi, third place behind Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso and with a record of only four points and 4–11 goal difference, was enough to make it to the continental finals.

At the tournament in Angola, Kinnah Phiri's team caused a big surprise. In the first group game, Malawi defeated Algeria, which had qualified for the World Cup, 3-0. One of the goalscorers was striker Russel Mwafulirwa, who at the time was under contract for the Swedish first division club IFK Norrköping and was thus one of only two players in the 23-man squad active in Europe. Malawi lost the second game against hosts Angola, 2-0.

For Malawi to have reached the quarter-finals for the first time, a draw in the last group game would have been enough. However, the team lost 3-1 to Mali. After just three minutes, the Malawians were 2-0 down, a goal from Mwafulirwa did nothing to avert the team's elimination.

Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Coaching history

 * Caretaker coaches are listed in italics


 * 🇲🇼 Jack Chamangwana (1998–99)
 * 🇲🇼 Young Chimodzi (1999–00)
 * Kim Splidsboel (2000–02)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Alan Gillett (2003)
 * 🇲🇼 Edington Ng'onamo (2003–04)
 * 🇲🇼 John Kaputa (2004)
 * 🇲🇼 Yassin Osman (2004–05)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Michael Hennigan (2005)
 * 🇩🇪 Burkhard Ziese (2005–06)
 * 🇲🇼 Kinnah Phiri (2006–07)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Stephen Constantine (2007–08)
 * 🇲🇼 Kinnah Phiri (2009–12)
 * 🇲🇼 Edington Ng'onamo (2012–13)
 * 🇧🇪 Tom Saintfiet (2013)
 * 🇲🇼 Young Chimodzi (2014–15)
 * 🇲🇼 Ernest Mtawali (2015–16)
 * 🇧🇮 Ramadhan Nsanzurwimo (2016–17)
 * 🇲🇼 Gerald Phiri Sr. (2017)
 * 🇧🇪 Ronny Van Geneugden (2017–19)
 * 🇲🇼 Meke Mwase (2019–2021)
 * Mario Marinică (2021–2023)
 * 🇲🇼 Patrick Mabedi (2023–present)

Current squad
The following local-based players were named to the provisional squad for the four-nations tournament friendly matches against Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe in March 2024.

Caps and goals correct as of: 21 November 2023, after the match against Tunisia.

Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up in 12 months preceding the above draft.

Records

 * Players in bold are still active with Malawi.

Head-to-head record
As of 10 June 2024 after match against