Tunisia break flames hearts

Tunisia yesterday dented Malawi’s dream start to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers campaign with a painful last-gasp 0-1 victory at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.

With three minutes to regulation time and the two teams tied at 0-0, the Flames conceded a penalty when Lawrence Chaziya was adjudged to have fouled Sayfallah Ltaief in the box.

Youssef Msakni claimed three points for the Carthage Eagles when he sent goalkeeper Brighton Munthali the wrong way.

The loss denied the Flames a result which would have followed up on their 1-0 win over Liberia in Monrovia on Friday.

Malawi struggled in both halves, giving the visitors ample time to dominate, but they found it difficult to break the Flames’ defence.

The Flames had two shots on target in the first half through captain John Banda’s powerful drive outside the penalty box that forced the Tunisia goalkeeper Bechir Said to parry it away.

With seven minutes to go in the first half, Malawi had another chance when Chimwemwe Idana set up Banda in the six-yard box but he failed to connect home.

In the second half, Malawi failed to create any chances and had no shot on target.

Coach Patrick Mabedi substituted Banda, Olson Kanjira, Stanley Sanudi and Saizi for Christopher Kumwembe, Patrick Mwaungulu, Chifundo Mphasi and Lanjesi Nkhoma, respectively. 

But still it was the visitors who dominated and created scoring opportunities.

With 10 minutes to go, they found a chance but defender Chaziya cleared the ball on the line.

However, he turned from hero to villain when he conceded the penalty.

Despite the defeat, Mabedi said he is proud of his boys because they played according to game plan.

“We managed to close spaces and they failed to penetrate. We played according to the plan, but we lost concentration in the second half and we were punished.

“All in all, I am proud of my boys,” he said.

Mabedi said Malawians should accept to move on without other players giving an example of South Africa-based Frank Gabadihno Mhango who was dropped on disciplinary grounds.

Tunisia coach Jalal Gaderi said they expected that Malawi will come hard on them, but experience helped them to win the match.

“You can see that we dominated the whole game but scoring was a problem. We respect Malawi, it is a good team but we were a good side on the day,” he said.