Silver Strikers and Mighty Wanderers cleared for CAF competitions, pass test

Malawian football fans have reason to celebrate as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially approved the applications of Silver Strikers and Mighty Wanderers Football Club, granting them licenses to participate in the upcoming 2025-26 CAF club tournaments. This decision confirms their status as Malawi’s representatives on the continental stage.

Both clubs had submitted their comprehensive documentation to CAF through the Football Association of Malawi (FAM). The good news follows a thorough review last weekend by FAM’s First Instance Body (FIB), which confirmed that both teams had successfully met all the minimum requirements set for continental tournaments.

Silver Strikers, the reigning TNM Super League champions from 2024, are set to compete in the prestigious CAF Champions League. Meanwhile, Mighty Wanderers will feature in the CAF Confederation Cup, having secured their spot through their triumphs in the FAM Cup, Castel Cup.

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The 2025-26 CAF club season is scheduled to kick off in September. The initial preliminary round first leg matches are slated for September 19-21, with the return legs taking place from September 26-28.

Should both Malawian ambassadors advance, the second preliminary round’s first leg will be played between October 17-19, with the decisive return legs following from October 24-26, 2025. The coveted group stages are then set to commence on November 21, 2025, and will run until February 15, 2026.

The knockout phases will see the quarterfinals held in March 2026 (first legs: March 13-15; second legs: March 20-23). The semifinal first legs are scheduled for April 10-12, 2026, with return legs from April 17-19. The grand finals of both tournaments are slated to take place between May 8 and May 24, 2026.

With just over a month to prepare their squads, both Mighty Wanderers and Silver Strikers are now focused on team strengthening and logistics. The primary registration period for the tournaments opens on August 1, 2025, and closes on August 31, 2025.

CAF has also outlined further registration periods to accommodate teams as they progress:

• The second registration period, for teams advancing to the second preliminary round, runs from September 1 to September 30, 2025.
• The registration period for the group stage is from October 1 to October 31, 2025.
• For the remainder of the group stage and knockout matches, the registration period will be from January 1 to January 31, 2026.

This marks a significant return to continental action for both clubs. Mighty Wanderers last participated in a CAF tournament in 2018, where they faced a challenging 6-1 defeat to Congolese giants Vita Sporting Club. Silver Strikers’ most recent CAF appearance was in the 2019 CAF Confederation Cup, exiting in the first preliminary round after a narrow 4-3 loss on post-match penalties to Ambere SC of Gabon.