The Malawi National Football Team continues to struggle to chalk good results under Kalisto Pasuwa 19 months after he assumed the role, raising 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification doubts, Malawi News Sport has the details.
June’s 9 2026 international friendly match against Ethiopia marked the 22nd game for Pasuwa since he assumed his role as the coach for the team in November 2024 when the team played against Burundi in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers.
Though the team started highly with three wins in their first four games under the Zimbabwean gaffer, they have recently failed to live to the billing, and have so far suffered 10 defeats, with eight coming in regulation time and two on penalties.
Flames have won seven matches under the Zimbabwean including the 3-0 win awarded after Equatorial Guinea failed to show up for the game at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.
The team has scored 18 goals and conceded 12 goals in 22 outings.
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In his 10 call ups, Pasuwa has called up 65 different players, including 6 goalkeepers, 19 defenders, 23 midfielders, 17 forwards.
Some of them did not even taste minutes in Flames colours.
Luciano Rundles of Kalonji Soccer Academy in USA, Yann Kouakou, Allen Chihana, Promise Kamwendo, Auspicious Kazongola, Adam Wallace, were all, among others, called by Pasuwa in his squad but yet to earn minutes.
William Thole, George Chikooka, Joshua Waka, MacDonald Lameck, Dennis Chembezi, Charles Petro, Yankho Singo, Lloyd Aaron, Lloyd Njaliwa are some of the players that Pasuwa has been consistently calling up for Flames duties.
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More importantly, Flames have gone now four games without a win, including going a three-match streak without scoring a goal before Babatunde Adepoju ended that run with his goal against Ethiopia.
In his pre and post-match press conferences, Pasuwa has been admitting that he is building a team that will compete for 2027 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers.
“When we are building a team, players need competition. If one has no competitor, he relaxes. That is why we brought in new players to fight for the jersey. Building a team is a comprehensive process commencing from the defensive line and progressing through all phases of play
“Against Ethiopia, we created genuine scoring opportunities but demonstrated catastrophic finishing. This is the precise area upon which we are focusing—replicating the aggressive second-half approach while substantially improving our conversion efficiency. Frankly, confidence in the penalty area has deteriorated. We are actively encouraging the players, though psychological recovery requires both time and successful conversion,” Pasuwa said.
Sports Analysts have meanwhile questioned the team’s direction under the current technical panel saying the coach is not consistent enough in his call ups.
Dyson Musa said if Football Association of Malawi is not willing to change the coach, finding a stronger backroom staff could be a better decision.
“The problem of failing to score goals has not started today, it has been there but it is the responsibility of Kalisto Pasuwa to sharpen them. I think the technical panel is too light, maybe Fam should consider beefing up the technical panel if they are not firing him,” he said.
Another analyst, Parry Chinyama said Fam has supported Pasuwa during his tenure as the coach for the team but he needs to deliver results.
“I do not know when the coach will build his team he keeps on saying. He is not consistent in his player selection. Every time there is Fifa Window, he has been changing players, he has been bringing new faces. We are not having another Fifa Window before the Afcon starts, so I do not know where he is going with his team building.
“Since he took over the helm, I have not seen the proper direction of his rebuilding, he has been selecting many players and we cannot say that they are all bad. It’s amazing that he has used over 50 players, we are not sure about what he is doing. You cannot build a team in two years. I cannot say that the tools that he is using are bad but maybe his system,” Chinyama said.
Malawi are preparing for 2027 Afcon qualifiers that are starting in September with a home game against South Sudan.
Malawi will also face Egypt and Angola. Qualifying for Afcon is a mandatory target that was inserted in Pasuwa’s two-year contract which he signed in 2025.
