Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, have been handed a relatively tricky group of the 2023 Cosafa Championship slated for July 5-16 in Durban, South Africa.
The Flames have been drawn in Group B alongside neighbours and holders Zambia, Seychelles and Comoros.
The draw took place after the Cosafa annual general meeting (AGM) held in South Africa Friday.
Malawi and Zambia will renew their rivalry at the regional showpiece having avoided each for the past two editions.
The Flames will be looking to better last year’s performance in which they exited the competition in the group stage following one loss, one win and a draw.
Flames interim coach Patrick Mabedi was not available for his comment Friday.
Group A comprises, hosts, South Africa, Namibia, eSwatini and Botswana whereas Group C has Mozambique, Angola, Mauritius and Lesotho.
This year’s tournament will be played under a new format involving 12 teams.
The group stages will be played between July 5 to 12.
Group winners and the best overall runner-up will advance to the semifinals of the Cosafa Cup.
Former Flames defender Moses Chavula said it is a tricky group for Malawi.
“On paper, it might be a fair group but football has changed. We should not focus on Zambia because Seychelles and Comoros have improved a lot so we need to prepare well for the tournament,” Chavula said.
Following the change of the format, there will be no Plate Competition this year.
The Flames have never won the Cosafa Cup since it was introduced but were runners-up in 2002 and 2003.
