Coach for the Malawi National Team, Scorchers, Lovemore Fazili, says the team aims to finish the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) with a victory and without conceding a goal against Zambia this evening at Al Madina Stadium in Rabat, Morocco.
Scorchers lead Group C with six points after back-to-back victories over Nigeria (3-2) and Egypt (3-1).
Zambia thrashed Egypt 6-0 in their opening match but later suffered a 1-0 defeat to Nigeria, leaving both Zambia and Nigeria tied on three points.
Nigeria hold second place on goal difference, while Egypt remain bottom without a point. Both will battle it out tonight.
With those stats, Malawi only needs a draw to qualify for the Quarter-Finals.
However, Fazili does not think so.
“We are focused on winning the game, not thinking about a draw. First of all, we want to win and keep a clean sheet. A draw will be fine if things do not go as expected, but our aim is to win the game,” he said.
In Malawi’s squad, there will be no Rose Alufandika, who picked up a red card in the Egypt game.
Nonetheless, pacey winger, Asimenye Simwaka, is back in the squad after completing her athletics at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
“We are going to miss Alufandika, but we have a plan B for her. It is good that Asimenye is here with us. It is a morale booster to the team and the squad,” said Fazili.
On the other hand, Zambia, the Copper Queens, say they expect a tough meeting with Malawi.
Copper Queens Coach, Nora Häuptle, said the two sides are evenly matched and know each other well.
“We know about their strength. We also played against each other a lot, so players know each other. Tactic-wise, there are not so many secrets, I would say, in this game, but again, we bounce back to us,” she said.
Zambia must win to qualify for the last eight. Because of that, Häuptle said they will stick to their game plan.
“It is all in our hands. Of course, we have seen all these calculations, but we don’t go out and calculate on the pitch. We go out and focus on our performance, as always,” the coach said.
In the Copper Queens camp, striker Racheal Kundananji is being assessed after sustaining an injury in Zambia’s match against Nigeria, with her availability for the clash against Malawi still uncertain.
But they are likely to utilise another striker, who is also pacey, Barbra Banda.
Both teams last faced each other in the Three Nations Tournament at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, where the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The two sides met in February 2025 in two friendly matches, with Zambia winning the first game 2-0 before Malawi responded with a 3-2 victory.
Teams like Ivory Coast, Algeria, Morocco, South Africa and Cameroon have already booked a place for the next round, with only three spots remaining from teams from Groups C and D.
