Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, have been held to a goalless draw by Namibia in their second match of the 2025 Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup, leaving them rooted at the bottom of Group B with just one point from two games.
To keep their hopes of advancing alive, the Flames must now defeat group leaders Angola in their final match on Tuesday and hope that the encounter between Namibia and Lesotho, on the same day, ends in a draw.
As it stands, Angola lead the group with 4 points, followed by Lesotho with 3, Namibia with 2, and Malawi trailing with 1 point.
In the game against Namibia on Sunday, Flames started the game with an attacking mentality that could have resulted into a goal, if Malawi was clinical.
On the 14th minute, Chikumbutso Salima did find the back of the net but his attempt was ruled offside by referee, Hillary Hambaba, after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check.
Salima became a threat to Namibia’s defence as nearly converted in a connection from a MacDonald Lameck’s cross, which was saved by Namibia’s goalkeeper, Kamaijanda Ndisiro.
However, from the 40th minute onwards, Namibia adopted a more attacking approach, pushing for a breakthrough through a series of corners and sharp wing play. Joslin Kamatuka produced their only notable effort with a close-range header, but it lacked power and was comfortably punched away by Malawi goalkeeper George Chikooka.
As the game went to half-time, Malawi had dominated with 57% of the ball possession and registered 2 attempts with only 1 on target. On the flip, Namibia had 37% of the ball and only had a single shot which was also on target.
Just right after the start of the second-half, Malawi’s Yankho Singo made the first attempt with a long-range shot, which was saved by Namibia’s goalkeeper, Ndisiro, and had sustained a minor injury in the process.
On the 83rd minute, Chawanangwa Gumbo also had a golden opportunity to put the Flames infront but his shot was blcoked by Namibia’s goalkeeper.
As the game ended, on statistics, Malawi’s possession dipped to 53% and registered 7 shots with only 2 being on target. On the other hand, against Namibia had 47% of the possession and 5 shots with only 1 on target.
Flames’ Wisdom Mpinganjira, who wore the captain’s armband, was awarded as the man-of-the-match.
“I don’t have many words to say only to thank my fellow players for helping me get this,” Mpinganjira said.
Flames Assistant Coach, Peter Mponda, said his charged played well because they were reacting from their 1-0 loss against Lesotho on 5 June, 2025.
“We need to build from this performance. Yes, we have got a slim hope of qualifying so we need to win our last game and see what happens with other matches. But with what happened today, I am very, very encouraged with the way the guys played. We played good football, created chances — a real reaction from the last game,” Mponda said.
Namibia’s Coach, Collin Josephat Benjamin, described the game as a ‘roller-coaster’ because he thought it was a walk-over, as they were coming from a 1-1 draw against Angola.
“They forced us with good long balls behind our defence and then gave us problems. In the end the spoils were shared. We had chances that we did not really capitalise on. So I think a draw is the true reflection of the game,” he said.
Earlier on Sunday, Angola ran riot on Lesotho, cruising them past 4-0.
Elsewhere, Group A—home to the hosts, South Africa—tells a similar story.
Mozambique lead the group with 4 points, having been held to a goalless draw by Mauritius before edging South Africa 1-0 on 4 June 2025. The hosts sit second with 3 points, earned from a 2-0 victory over Zimbabwe. Mauritius are third with 2 points after also drawing with Zimbabwe, who anchor the group with a single point following the 4 June fixture.
In Group C, which has three teams, Madagascar are on top with 3 points as they defeated Tanzania 1-0, and Eswatini will play their first game against the leaders on Monday, 9 June 2025. Group D also has a similar outlook because Comoros is leading the pack with 3 points after they had defeated Zambia 1-0 and Botswana shall have its first game against Zambia on 11 June.
