Malawi Flames Break 16-Year Jinx Against Lesotho as Malango strikes

For 16 frustrating years, the Malawi National Football team, the Flames, searched in vain for a victory over Lesotho. During the last FIFA international break, that painful jinx finally came to an end.

It took a goal from Mayele Malango—a player who became Malawian after the country gave him a second chance at life—to break the drought. The forward slotted home a Lloyd Aaron cross in the 26th minute, securing a deserved yet hard-fought 1-0 victory over the Likuena at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

The triumph came just three days after the two sides were held to a goalless stalemate at the same venue in their friendly double-header.

MORE NEWS FROM WAMPIRA

After failing to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, coach Kalisto Pasuwa has embarked on a team-building process. The focus is now on preparing for the upcoming 2027 AFCON qualifiers and the next edition of the COSAFA tournament for locally-based players.

Reacting to the result, Pasuwa expressed satisfaction but cautioned against complacency.

“It was a good game. The better part of it was that we were able to escape pressure unlike last time. Today we could build up from the back, and that gave us more possession in the attacking third to look for goals,” he said.

However, the coach raised concerns about his team’s attitude when facing perceived weaker opposition.

“Sometimes we come with a mindset that we are playing São Tomé and Príncipe or Lesotho, so the players think it will be easy—only to realize during the game that they should raise the tempo,” Pasuwa added.

Heading into the match, Lesotho had recorded just one win from their last seven games—a victory over Zimbabwe. They had suffered defeats to Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Benin, and Nigeria before their draw against Malawi the previous week.

For Malawi, the victory marked their third win in six matches. Following this result, the Flames have lost just one game in their recent six outings, recording three wins and two draws.

The historical significance of the victory cannot be overstated. Malawi’s last win against Lesotho came in May 2009 in a friendly match. Since then, the record made for painful reading. In 2016, Lesotho won 1-0 at the COSAFA Cup. The following year in 2017, and again in 2019, friendly matches between the two sides ended in 1-1 draws.

The year 2022 saw Lesotho triumph 2-1 at the COSAFA Cup. In 2023, after a 1-1 friendly draw, the teams met again at the COSAFA Cup where Lesotho prevailed on penalties following another 1-1 draw in regulation time. Earlier this year, Lesotho continued their dominance with another victory at the COSAFA Cup.

Despite his concerns about complacency, Pasuwa praised his team’s overall performance, particularly highlighting the midfielders’ role in orchestrating link-up play from defense to attack.

“The midfielders did a good job orchestrating link-up play from the defense to the attacking third,” he said.

After this international break, the team will be separated for four months. The next FIFA international break will come in March 2025, giving Pasuwa time to continue his rebuilding project and work on the mental aspects that have sometimes hindered the Flames when facing opponents they’re expected to beat.