The Flames have reignited their 2026 Fofa World Cup campaign after being awarded a 3–0 victory over Equatorial Guinea who failed to turn up for the return leg at Bingu National Stadium Lilongwe on Thursday.
With Liberia also victorious in the other Group H qualifier against Namibia, both Lone Stars and Flames are back into contention for a second-place finish.
Apart from the default points, the Flames have to thank Liberia’s emphatic 3–1 win in Monrovia, that has blown the race for the runners-up spot wide open in the group ahead of the final round of fixtures.
The Malawi National Football Team lies third in the six-team group with 13 points, two behind second-placed Namibia and a point below Liberia ahead of the last round of matches on Monday.
Tunisia remain the undisputed leaders and have already sealed qualification.
The Carthage Eagles top the table with 20 points from eight matches and are guaranteed first place regardless of the remaining results.
A second-place finish for either Liberia, Malawi and Namibia may lead to a possible spot among best second-placed finishers play-offs.
The Lone Stars now have a chance to finish as runners-up if they can secure victory in their final fixture against Equatorial Guinea who are eliminated following their no-show against Malawi.
This means Malawi mathematically can finish second if they win their final match against Sao Tome and Principe on Monday and if Liberia lose to Equatorial Guinea and Namibia drop points against Tunisia.
In an interview, Flames coach Kallisto Pasuwa said this is why he insists that every match counts.
He said: “Anything can happen in football.”
Commenting on the twist of the group, football analyst Charles Nyirenda said: “ This is typical of international football qualifiers. Sometimes teams start well and falter along the way.
“On occasions, fate intervenes and then the whole situation changes placing certain sides at an advantage while condemning others to the doldrums.”
He said after a poor take-off, the Flames picked up the pace towards the end “and no wonder a second place finish seems possible”.
Nyirenda said the coach now needs to adopt a positive posture by going for bloke in the last match.
He said: “The team must attack and not only achieve victory, but also score more goals and wait for outcomes in other encounters.
“What appeared improbable initially is right now looking quite possible. We should just cross fingers.”
Namibia are also in the same predicament as their loss in Monrovia dealt a severe blow to their ambitions.
They remain on 15 points, but now must beat Tunisia in their final match and hope both Liberia and Malawi fail to win to cling onto second place.
After forfeiting points against Malawi, Equatorial Guinea have been mathematically eliminated, with 10 points.
São Tomé and Príncipe, who were playing Tunisia as we went to press are winless and rooted at the foot of the table and eliminated.
Malawi left for Tunisia yesterday where Sao Tome are hosting their qualifiers since their stadia does not meet Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) minimum requirements.
