Sao Tome and Principe yesterday stunned Malawi with a 1-0 victory in their last 2026 World Cup qualifier played in Tunisia to end a three-year winless streak.
There were emotional scenes after the final whistle at Stade Olympique de Sousse as the Warriors of Equator celebrated their first win in 18 matches on an afternoon when football once again exhibited a touch of its unpredictability.
It was also Sao Tome and Principe’s first win in the campaign, having lost all their other previous nine matches.
Prior to yesterday’s victory, the last time Sao Tome and Principe won a match was in March 2022 when they edged Mauritius 1-0 and no one could blame them for turning the pitch into a theatre of celebrations.
empowering women.
I Courtesy of EthCo
And surely, they might have wished to have achieved that feat at home other than in the North African nation where they hosted the game because they do not have a Confederation of African Football certified stadium.
In a match monitored on 808 Live Football, the Flames stood motionless with their heads hang like mummies in complete disbelief after the final whistle, but they didn’t have to as they did not deserve to win any way.
Ronaldo, not Cristiano the Portuguese star, but Afonso, netted the lone goal from a penalty in the 62nd minute awarded after defender Gomezgani Chirwa had fouled a dangerously advancing Male on the left flank.
Up stepped Ronaldo to convert the spot-kick with remarkable ease and from then on, the hosts frustrated the Flames and held on to their nerve until the frantic final moments.
As time ticked on, the enduring image was suspended Flames captain Frank Gabadinho Mhango, who watched the match from the sideslines with his head held in his hands.
After the match, Flames coach Kallisto Pasuwa admitted that their opponents “wanted it more”.
He said: “They [Sao Tome and Principe] were hitting route one football and they played the second ball most of the time when they were coming to us.
“We had our chances, but we couldn’t utilise them, they had one chance when they went into the box and got a penalty and they scored.
“It is part of the game.”
Following the defeat, Malawi have finished fourth in the six-team Group H with 13 points from 10 matches, 15 points behind group winners Tunisia, who had the luxury of punching their ticket to the global showpiece with two games to spare.
Despite losing 0-3 to Tunisia, Namibia’s Brave Warriors have finished second with 15 points, but are not among the top four runners-up to compete in the play-offs for a final slot.
Namibia are tied on points with third-placed Liberia, who played out a one-all draw against Equatorial Guinea, but the Lone Star have an inferior goal difference.
Equatorial Guinea finished fifth with 11 points while table-anchors Sao Tome and Principe brought down the curtain to their campaign with three points.
