Burkina Faso 3 (Franck Traore 34′ 37′, Hassane Bandè 60′) -1 Malawi (Zeliat Nkhoma 79′)
The Flames on Tuesday evening suffered a second defeat in the 2025 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations finals after falling 3-1 to Burkina Faso at Stade du 26 Mars in Bamako, Mali.
Franck Traore scored the first goal for Burkina Faso 34 minutes into the onto the match before claiming a brace three minutes later as he slotted into an empty goal after goalkeeper George Chikooka missed him outside the box.
Coach Patrick Mabedi made a half time substitution bringing in Zeliat Nkhoma for Chifundo Mphasi who did not have a good run in the first half and this change looked promising as Malawi started pressing for a goal.
Burkina Faso won a penalty after Lawrence Chaziya handled the ball in the box and Hassan Bandè converted it making it 3-0 at 59 minutes.
The introduction of Wisdom Mpinganjira and Robert Saizi replacing Lanjesi Nkhoma and Yamikani Chester brought an impact in Flames attack evidenced by a Zeliat Nkhoma goal 11 minutes before the final whistle.
Speaking after the match, Mabedi said: “ We respected them too much during the first half letting them play past us while we sat at the back. We were not good enough and couldn’t match them.
“At half time, we talked to the boys and they picked up a little bit in the second half making us believe that we can come back but it was too late.
“As a team, we are not doing well in defence and it is a disappointing that we have conceded six goals in just two games.
“Talking about our chances in the race, we have lost six points already and our chances are slim but there are four more games to go this can be a work up call for us to do proper preparations in the future”, said Mabedi.
Malawi is currently the only team yet to get a point in group L while Burkina Faso are leading the group with 4 points, same as second-placed Senegal and Burundi is third with 3 points.
LINEUP: George Chikooka, Stanley Sanudi, Nickson Mwase, Lawrence Chaziya, Dennis Chembezi, Lloyd Aaron, Chimwemwe Idana, Yamikani Chester (Robert Saizi 68′), Chawanangwa Kaonga, Lanjesi Nkhoma (Wisdom Mpinganjira 68′), Chifundo Mphasi (Zeliat Nkhoma 46′)
