Old habits die hard. Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Tunisia in a 2026 Group H Fifa World Cup qualifier at Bingu National Stadium Tuesday.
The Flames were hoping for back-to-back victory in the World Cup qualifiers after beating Liberia 1-0 on Friday but it ended in tears.
This is the first Flames’ loss, under the tutelage of Patrick Mabedi, in nine matches in all competitions.
The result means the Flames are still third in Group H with three points from two matches, three points behind leaders Tunisia and second-placed Equatorial Guinea, who defeated Liberia 1-0 on Monday.
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Msakini Youssef scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot in the 87th minute after defender Lawrence Chaziya fouled Ltaief Sayfallah in the box.
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The Flames had a grand game in the first half as they exchanged passes and created chances which were not utilised.
They seized control of the midfield, with captain John Banda, Chimwemwe Idana and Lloyd Aaron on top of their game.
Banda missed a golden opportunity in the first half after a good pass from Idana, only for the veteran midfielder to miss the target after using his left leg instead of the right one. The ball missed the goal post by a whisker.
Attacker Wisdom Mpinganjira, on his first start for the Flames, had a grand game and caused plenty of problems for Tunisia defenders.
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On the other hand, goalkeeper Brighton Munthali kept the Flames in the match after he denied Khenisi Yassine.
The two teams went for recess with the score at 0-0.
After recess, Tunisia came a changed side as they took control of the match with good passes and nearly scored in the early stages of the second half but Munthali came to the rescue again.
Sensing danger, Mabedi introduced Chifundo Mphasi and Patrick Mwaungulu for Banda and Robert Saizi.
The substitutions changed the complexion of the match, with Mphasi causing problems to the visitors.
Later in the match, Christopher Kumwembe was thrown into the fray for Kanjira.
Mphasi had a great chance to level the scores in stoppage time but Tunisia’s goalkeeper Said Bechir was equal to the task.
It was game over.
Despite the loss, Mabedi said there were several positives that could be drawn from the match.
“We lost the match to a good team. We lost concentration a bit towards the end of the match as we conceded a penalty,” Mabedi said.
Banda, who was withdrawn due to injury, was disappointed with the loss.
“We played well but were just unfortunate to concede a late goal,” Banda said.
On his part, Tunisia Coach Jalel Kadri, through an interpreter, said they deserved the win.
“It was a difficult match and we respect Malawi for giving us a tough run for our money. They are an offensive team but we dominated the match,” Kadri said.
