Malawi National Football team, the Flames will be looking for a good start when they host Burundi in Group L opener of the 2025 Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers at Bingu National Stadium this afternoon.
A victory in today’s match would be a big statement in their mission to qualify for the next year’s finals to be staged in Morocco.
The Flames will be hoping to get a back-to-back home victory after beating Sao Tome and Principe 3-1 in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers in June this year.
However, the Flames suffered a 1-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea in Malabo, the same month.
On the other hand, Burundi are coming from a 3-1 victory over Seychelles in the World Cup qualifiers. They also drew 1-1 against Kenya at BNS in June.
The two sides met in 1987 in three matches as Burundi beat Malawi 4-2 but they settled for 1-1 draws in two matches.
Having reached their first ever Afcon Round of 16 during the 2021 Afcon finals in Cameroon, Malawi failed to qualify for the 2023 Afcon finals held in Ivory Coast after finishing third, behind Egypt and Guinea.
But there is renewed hope in Flames camp that qualification to the AFCON finals is possible with good preparations. The Flames had one full training session ahead of the Burundi clash.
Coach Patrick Mabedi said morale is high in camp ahead of the match.
’’I am happy because I know how to play with their mind and try to trigger them. So far, the response was very good. Mentally, they are also motivated because they are professionals,’’ said Mabedi.
However, Mabedi told his players not to underrate Burundi saying they are no longer push overs. Mabedi said he would be happy to start the qualifiers with a win.
’’We have done our homework. Burundi is a very good team, they can run with energy at the same anyone who is good also have weaknesses. To be honest, Burundi is a very good and we are underdogs but we will try our best to do better,’’ said Mabedi.
Mabedi named a 28-member squad ahead of the match. But goalkeeper Brighton Munthali has been ruled out of the match due to injury.
Flames captain John Banda said the players are determined to start the qualifiers with a victory.
’’We are motivated as players to win the game. We appeal to Malawians to come in large numbers and give us support we need,’’ said Banda, who is closing in on making his 100 international cap for the Flames.
The Flames will travel to Bamako, Mali for their second Group L match against Burkina Faso next week. Malawi will face Senegal back-to-back in October.
On the other hand, Burundi will host Senegal at BNS.
