Fourteen games into his tenure as national team head coach, Kalisto Pasuwa remains optimistic about the Flames’ development despite a mixed run of results.

Pasuwa’s journey with the national team began with a goalless draw away to Burundi, but it was his first home match that provided a glimpse of his vision. The Flames delivered a commanding 3-0 victory over Burkina Faso at Bingu National Stadium, setting the tone for back-to-back home wins against Comoros.

However, the momentum proved short-lived. Away defeats to Tunisia and South Africa sandwiched a disappointing home loss to Namibia, raising early questions about the team’s consistency.

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The team’s lowest point came at the COSAFA Cup, where they failed to register a single win or goal. The poor showing sparked doubts about Pasuwa’s methods, though the coach pointed to mitigating circumstances—he had fielded a provisional squad comprised entirely of local players.

Faith in Pasuwa’s process was restored following his selection of a 26-man squad for the September international break. The team responded with an impressive away victory over Namibia before staging a remarkable comeback against Liberia, fighting back from 2-0 down to secure a 2-2 draw.

Speaking after the Liberia match, Pasuwa expressed satisfaction with his team’s progress.

“The team is coming up, I can see progress in what we are doing,” he said. “A team going behind 2-0 and then coming back to score two goals shows we are building something positive.

“What makes our situation tricky is that we’ve been playing in four different competitions—CHAN, COSAFA, AFCON Qualifiers, and now World Cup Qualifiers. We’ve been mixing players throughout, but now we’re finally building with our full squad.”

Despite the positives, Pasuwa acknowledged persistent defensive frailties.

“We keep conceding goals at similar times, particularly from lateral balls and crosses into the box,” he noted. “These are areas where we need more repetition to improve. We’re still making mistakes that require constant communication with players.”

While World Cup qualification for 2026 is now mathematically impossible following a poor start to the qualifiers, Malawi still have two fixtures remaining in October. Home matches against Equatorial Guinea and away to São Tomé and Príncipe offer opportunities to finish second in Group H and build momentum.

The real target lies ahead—qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals, which represents the primary objective outlined in Pasuwa’s contract with the Football Association of Malawi.