Mponda aims to break COSAFA jinx, says ready to win trophy

The Flames have never won the COSAFA Cup since its inception in 1983, coming closest in 2002 and 2003 when they reached the finals of the tournament.

In 2002, the Malawi National Team beat Angola in the quarterfinals 2-1, with Essau Kanyenda scoring the first goal before Fernandez Perreira scored an own goal to give Malawi a 2-goal advantage. However, Angola pulled one back early in the second half through Peter Mponda’s own goal.

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The Flames went on to face Zambia—who had beaten Mozambique 3-0 earlier in another quarterfinal—and triumphed over their neighbours 1-0 to reach the final, thanks to Essau Kanyenda’s penalty strike.

In their first-ever COSAFA final, Malawi lost 4-1 on aggregate in a two-legged tie. They were beaten 3-1 at home after scoring first through Patrick Mabedi, but Patrick Mayo’s brace and Jimmy Kuleza’s late strike gave South Africa a commanding lead at Kamuzu Stadium, then Chichiri Stadium, before winning 1-0 at King’s Park in South Africa.

The following year, Malawi came close again to winning it. They beat Botswana on penalties after Moses Chavula cancelled Masego Ntshingane’s opener in the 88th minute in the quarterfinals, before beating Zambia again on penalties. Russell Mwafulirwa opened the scoring in the 34th minute before Sashi Chalwe equalised with three minutes remaining. Malawi won 4-2 in the shootout to progress to the final.

This time around, they faced Zimbabwe, and another 4-1 defeat was handed to Malawi.

Albert Mbano and Zvenyika Makonese scored a goal each before Russell Mwafulirwa pulled one back late in the game to give Malawi hope of a comeback in the second leg, played at the National Stadium in Harare, but they lost 2-0 to agonisingly miss out on the trophy again.

Since then, the trophy has remained elusive, with Malawi failing to reach the finals in 22 years. They came close again in 2023, when they reached the semifinals but were beaten by Lesotho on penalties.

The team is expected to travel to South Africa today for the tournament after missing last year’s edition. Speaking ahead of the trip, Mponda said the team this time is eager to compete and win the trophy.

“We are very happy with the way things are going. We have tried to find the balance between giving exposure to some of the guys and also going to the tournament and trying to win it.

It’s very unfortunate that we have been participating since 1997 but we haven’t won it. We feel that we have taken a very good squad to take us to the semifinals and see what happens if we reach the finals and try to win it. We are going there to compete and try to bring the cup home,” said Mponda.

Mponda: Kalima’s absence is a setback

Silver Strikers’ forward, Zebron Kalima, has been ruled out of the 2025 COSAFA Cup tournament due to injury, the Football Association of Malawi has announced.

Kalima was part of the 24-man squad that Head Coach Kalisto Pasuwa released, but the Association has confirmed that Kalima is nursing an injury and has therefore been ruled out of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Japan-based defender Washali Jaziya has excused himself from the squad and will not be part of the team expected to travel to South Africa.

FAM said that apart from the two, all players invited by Pasuwa have been training at Mpira Village ahead of the developmental tournament.

“The Flames held their second training session on Tuesday morning at Mpira Stadium. All players called up by Head Coach Kalisto Pasuwa reported for duty except Silver Strikers midfielder Zebron Kalima, who is out due to injury, and defender Washali Jaziya, who asked to be excused.

“The team is expected to depart for Bloemfontein, South Africa, on Wednesday via Chileka International Airport for the 2025 Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup,” announced the Association’s Media Department.

Reacting to the development, Mponda admitted that Kalima’s absence is a big setback.

“We saw that he [Zebron Kalima] had started playing games, but we have been told that he is not fully fit and cannot go to COSAFA. That’s a big setback.

“And also our player who is in Japan [Washali Jaziya]—his club has asked that the boy is new and he needs time to settle. Yes, it’s a very good reason and we said, ‘No, let’s give him time, and we’ll have another opportunity to call him,’” added Mponda.

Malawi will kick off their 2025 Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup campaign against Lesotho on June 5, then face Namibia on June 8, before wrapping up the group stage with a clash against Angola on June 10.