Malawi look to turn silver into gold in Stellenbosch
Malawi will be hoping to turn silver into gold having finished runners-up three times in the Boys and Girls competitions at the CAF African Schools Football Championship | COSAFA Qualifiers since 2022.
The latest edition will be staged in Stellenbosch, South Africa from December 5-7, with Malawi likely one of the favourites in both competitions given how competitive they have been in the past.
On two occasions their Boys lost to South African opposition and their ambition this year at the tournament will certainly be to finally capture first place.
Their representative in 2022, Salima Secondary School, did qualify for the Continental Finals despite a 1-0 loss to South Africa’s Clapham High School as COSAFA had two nations present with competition staged in Durban.
That meant Clapham High qualified as hosts and Salima as COSAFA’s representative. They excelled too, with Clapham taking the silver medal and Salima the bronze.
Malawi reached the Boys’ Zonal Phase final again in Harare, Zimbabwe in 2023 and played to a 1-1 draw with South Africa, who then went on to win 3-0 on penalties.
Last year they reached the semifinals but lost to South Africa again, going down 2-1 in the last-4 clash.
The Girls’ side also reached the final in 2024 but yet again South Africa stood in their way as they lost 3-1. But they did still qualify for the Continental Finals as South Africa were the holders of the African title and booked their place via that route.
They might have won the first Zonal Phase tournament in 2022 as hosts. Malindi Secondary won all four of their games, but an administrative error meant they were stripped of the points from the first two and finished third.
They bowed out in the group stages in Harare in 2023, but made the final in Walvis Bay last year.
The draw for this year’s 11-team tournament will be made a few days before the competition.
MALAWI’S PAST FINISHES
BOYS
2022: Runners-Up
2023: Runners-Up
2024: Semifinals
GIRLS
2022: Third
2023: Group Stage
2024: Runners-Up
MALAWI’S PAST RESULTS
BOYS
2022
Ile Perseverance 0-4 Salima Secondary
Clapham High 1-1 Salima Secondary
Salima Secondary 4-0 IQRA School
Salima Secondary 0-1 Clapham High
2023
Zimbabwe 0-4 Malawi
Malawi 3-0 Mozambique
Malawi 2-1 Botswana
Malawi 2-0 Eswatini
Malawi 1-1 South Africa*
* SA won 3-0 on penalties
2024
Namibia 0-6 Malawi
Malawi 4-0 Lesotho
Zambia 3-0 Malawi
South Africa 2-1 Malawi
GIRLS
2022
Malindi Secondary 5-0 Anse Boileau*
Malindi Secondary 1-0 Edendale Technical*
Mothomo JSS 0-1 Malindi Secondary
Malindi Secondary 3-0 GS Ningha
* Results awarded to Malindi Secondary’s opponents due to administrative error.
2023
Zimbabwe 0-3 Malawi
Malawi 0-0 Mozambique
Malawi 0-0 Botswana
Malawi 2-0 Eswatini
2024
Namibia 2-2 Malawi
Malawi 5-0 Lesotho
Malawi 3-0 Zambia*
Malawi 2-1 Zimbabwe
Malawi 1-3 South Africa
*Awarded to Malawi as a 3-0 walkover as Zambia were not present.
