The Malawi Women’s National Football Team will face Zimbabwe in the second-round of the African qualifiers for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games between October 5 and 13.
This follows a draw conducted yesterday at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) headquarters in Cairo Egypt, where it was also announced that the Scorchers had been handed a bye in the first round due to a better standing on Fifa Rankings.
Ranked 153rd, the Scorchers are expected to face 129th-ranked Mighty Warriors in the home-and-away knockout round.
The development comes five months after the Scorchers narrowly lost 2-1 to Zimbabwe in an international friendly match.
The Scorchers who are returning to the Olympics qualifiers after seven years, are among the 35 teams that will compete in the qualifiers.
According to CAF website, www.cafonline.com, the qualifiers have been structured in five knockout rounds, to be played on home and away basis.
“Only top two teams will secure qualification to represent the continent at the 2028 Summer Olympics, scheduled from July 11 to July 29 in 2028,” the website states.
The first round will be plated between June 1 and 9 and will involve Sudan, Comoros, South Sudan, Madagascar, Mauritius and Djibouti.
The Scorchers are joining the qualifiers in the second round in which they have to beat Zimbabwe over two legs to advance to the third round where they will face either Kenya or Seychelles between February 23 and March 6, 2027.
The fourth round, which will involve third round winners, will be played between October 4 and 12, 2027.
The fifth and final round will be contested between November 23 and December 4, 2027, where the remaining teams will compete for the two available slots at the Olympics.
