Malawi girls Schools national football team have booked a place at next year’s  CAF African Schools Football Championship finals after finishing as runners to South Africa during the Cosafa qualifiers in Walvis Bay, Namibia on Sunday.

The team lost 3-1 to South Africa in the girls final at Jan Wilken Sports Field this morning.

This means Malawi will join South Africa Africa at the continental showpiece finals after the latter qualified as holders.

The girls team will appear at the continental showpiece finals for the first time having failed to do so in the previous two editions in 2022 and 2023.

Rejoice Silungwe scored the consolation for Malawi, the first goal that South Africa had conceded in the competition this year.

Coach for the girls team Bridget Chirwa said despite the defeat to eventual champions, her team played well.

“We have accepted the defeat to South Africa. But the girls played very well. We know South Africa are a very good team but we told them to be first on the ball against South Africa.

“South Africa is a good team, but we are also the best. There were eight teams, but we managed to reach the final which is not a mean achievement. Now that we have qualified, we will go back to the drawing board and work on our weaknesses and prepare for next year’s final,” said Chirwa.

The Malawi boys’ team were eliminated in the semifinal after losing to South Africa.

Malawi’s Boys striker Okester Kanyenda got the Golden Boot with four goals while Malawi took home the Fair Play award.