The Malawi national football team, nicknamed The Flames, is the national team of Malawi and is controlled by the Football Association of Malawi. Before 1966 they were known as the Nyasaland national football team. They have never qualified for the World Cup finals and have thrice qualified for the Africa Cup of Nation finals in 1984 , 2010 and mostly recently in 2021.
AFCON 2021
At the 2021 Finals in Cameroun the Flames made history by making it to the round stage for the first time.
The Flames made it to the Round of 16 knockout stage after finishing as one of the four third best losers.
Flames collected four points in the group stages after beating Zimbabwe 2-1, losing 1-0 to Guinea and holding Senegal 0-0.
The Flames faced Morocco in the last 16 on January 23 and lost 2-1.
Striker Gabadinho Mhango scored all the three Flames and became the first Malawi player to score a brace at the AFCON after his two goals against Zimbabwe. His scorcher in the Morocco
game made him the Flames the all-time AFCON finals leading scorer.
The team collected four points in the group stages the most at AFCON after managing just 3 points and a point in 2010 and 1984 respectively.
Vice-captain John Banda, Dennis Chembezi and Gomezgani Chirwa played every minute of
the Flames campaign.
| Nickname | The Flames |
| Association | Football Association of Malawi |
| Sub-confederation | COSAFA (Southern Africa) |
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) |
| Head Coach | Callisto Pasuwa |
| Captain | John Banda |
| Home Stadium | Kamuzu Stadium |
| FIFA Ranking | 122 |
| Highest FIFA Ranking | 53 (December 1992) |
| Lowest FIFA | 138 (December 2007, March 2008) |
| First International | Zambia 8 Malawi 0 (Harare, Zimbabwe, 20 April 1962) |
| Biggest Wins | Malawi- Malawi 8–1 Botswana (Malawi; 13 July 1968) Malawi 8–1 Djibouti (Blantyre, Malawi; 31 May 2008) |
| Biggest Defeat | Nyasaland 0–12 Gold Coast (Malawi; 15 October 1962) |
COSAFA – 2 Times Runners-up (2002,2003)
COSAFA – Plate winners (2015)
CECAFA – 3 Times Champion (1978/79/88)
1957 – 1974 Did not enter
1976 – 1982 Did not qualify
1984 Round 1
1986 – 2008 Did not qualify
2010 Round 1
2012 – 2019 Did not qualify
2021 Round of 16
2023 Did not qualify
1966 – 1974 Did not enter
1978 – 1990 Did not qualify
1994 Withdrew
1998 – 2022 Did not qualify
1997 Group Stages
1998 & 1999 Preliminary Round
2000 Quarterfinals
2001 Semifinals
2002 & 2003 Runners Up
2004 Quarterfinals
2005 – 2008 Group Stages
2009 Quarterfinals
2013 Group Stages
2015 Quarterfinals and Plate Winners
2016 – 2018 Group Stages
2019 Quarterfinals and Plate Runners-Up
2021 – 2022 Group Stages
2023 Semifinals