The Malawi National Women’s team are set to make their first AFCON Qualifiers appearance in nine years as they host Zambia at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.

The Scorchers will host the Copper Queens in the Total Energies Women’s AFCON Morocco 2022 Qualifiers first round, first leg, with the return leg scheduled for Lusaka on Tuesday October 26.

The last time Malawi participated in the AFCON Qualifiers was in 2012 and they faced Zambia who triumphed 9-4 on aggregate.

Coach Mcnbert Kadzuwa said they want to make their Afcon qualifiers comeback with a win and qualify to the second round for the first time.

“We have prepared very well and are geared for the game. We are going to play our usual attacking and counter-pressing football . We have done enough to drill the girls both physically, mentally and tactically ahead of tomorrow’s encounter.

“Zambia is a big team but we are also big. Yes, we beat them during our last meeting but we have told our girls to forget about that because that was in 2020 and a different competition. this as a new match and very different.

” We have watched how the current crop of Zambian players are doing and we are going to use their weaknesses to penetrate and defeat them, said Kazuwa.

The last time the two sides met was during in the group stages of the 2020 Cosafa Women’s Championship and Malawi won 1-0 courtesy of a Temwa Chawinga’s goal.

But the Scorchers will be without Temwa and her sister Tabitha, who have not been released by their Chinese club due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

However, Kadzuwa is confident the girls will cope without the Chawinga Sisters as they did at the COSAFA Championship where they reached the final for the first time.

The winner between Malawi and Zambia will face the winner between Namibia and Tanzania in the second round.