The Malawi National Football Team, the Flames will be hoping to exorcise the demons that have haunted them for 15 years when they face Lesotho’s Likuena in an international friendly match at Toyota Stadium, in Bloemfontein, South Africa today.
The match kicks off at 4pm.
It was 15 years ago when the Flames last beat Lesotho 1-0 in an international friendly match.
But since then, the Flames have played second fiddle to Likuena having lost four matches and three stalemates in all competitions.
The stakes are high in this match. The most recent meeting between the two sides was during the 2025 Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup but Lesotho triumphed 1-0 at the same venue.
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Prior to that, Lesotho denied Malawi a place in the 2023 Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup final for the first time in 20 years.
Then, Lesotho beat Malawi 3-0 on post-match penalties after a goal-less stalemate in regulation time at King Zwelithini Stadium, Durban, South Africa.
The same year Lesotho also claimed a 1-0 win over Malawi in a practice match at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe.
In 2017 and 2019, the two teams shared the spoils following 1-1 stalemates.
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But it took Lesotho 36 years to register their first win over the Flames.
That was a 1-0 win during the 2016 Cosafa Cup. Since, then they have become Flames’ bogey team. Apart from the 2009 win over Lesotho, the Flames last beat Likuena during the 2005 and 2008 Cosafa Cup.
The Flames have been a pale shadow of themselves in recent matches having lost 1-0 to minnows São Tomé and Príncipe in their last 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier in Tunisia.
It was the result that stunned the football fraternity in Malawi.
Currently, ranked 128th in the world, the Flames desperately need positive results in back-to-back matches against Lesotho to better their rankings ahead of the draw for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers.
The Flames step onto the turf of Toyota Stadium with renewed hope as coach Kalisto Pasuwa has beefed up the squad with five players including Yann Kouakou, Uchizi Vunga, Andrew Joseph, Chifundo Mphasi and Blessings Mpokera.
“Remember, the 2027 Afcon qualifiers are just around the corner, so these matches are of utmost importance,” he said.
Lesotho, on the other hand, ranked 144 in the world, would be looking to maintain their dominance over the Flames.
In the Fifa World Cup qualifiers, Lesotho registered one win and five losses in six matches.
They beat Zimbabwe 1-0 in the Fifa World Cup qualifiers but they lost to Angola (4-0), Namibia (3-0), South Africa (3- 0), Nigeria (2-1) and Benin (4-0).
