Malawi National Football Team (Flames) will open their Mukuru 2026 Four Nations Tournament campaign against Zambia on 28 March at Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown, Botswana.
Hosts Botswana will face Zimbabwe in the other opening fixture.
The tournament runs from 28 to 31 March 2026, with winners advancing to the final and losers contesting the third-place playoff.
Flames coach Calisto Pasuwa has named a 25-man squad for the tournament, notably leaving out South Africa-based striker Gabadinho Mhango, who plays for Richards Bay.
The squad comprises 17 foreign-based and eight locally based players. Pasuwa has included new faces such as Hannover 96 midfielder Mwisho Mhango and Silver Strikers’ Festus Duwe.
He has also retained 15 players who featured in the Flames’ November friendly against Lesotho, which Malawi won 1-0 at Free State Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, courtesy of Mayele Malango, who is also part of the current squad.
According to the Football Association of Malawi (FAM), defender Denis Chembezi has been ruled out due to travel restrictions, while Chifundo Mphasi misses out through injury sustained during club duties.
FAM has indicated that all foreign-based players have already reported for camp, except defender Charles Petro, who is expected to join the team in Botswana.
Pasuwa said the matches will be crucial for assessing the team.
“Remember, we are playing matches maybe after two, three or four months of inactivity. We need to assess player cohesion and coordination in terms of tactics,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malawi will play their final 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches in October against Equatorial Guinea at home and São Tomé and Príncipe away.
The fixtures will be largely procedural, as Tunisia has already secured qualification, topping the group with 28 points from 10 matches.
Namibia sits second on 15 points, level with Liberia but ahead on goal difference.
Malawi is fourth with 13 points, followed by Equatorial Guinea on 11, while São Tomé and Príncipe remain at the bottom with three points.
