Malawi will be hoping to turn silver into gold having finished runners-up in the Boys’ competition at the CAF African Schools Football Championship | COSAFA Qualifiers for the last two editions.

On both occasions they lost to South African opposition and their ambition this year at the tournament to be staged in Walvis Bay, Namibia, will certainly be to finally capture first place.

Their representative in 2022, Salima Secondary School, did qualify for the finals as COSAFA had two nations present with the continental competition staged in Durban.

That meant Clapham High School from South Africa 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 final again in Harare, Zimbabwe last year and played to a goalless draw with South Africa, who then went on to win 3-1 on penalties.

The Girls’ side have had less success, finishing third when Malawi hosted the zonal qualifiers in 2022 and then going out in the pool stages in Harare despite winning two and drawing two of their four games, finishing unbeaten.

Malawi are, of course, COSAFA Women’s Championship holders and have long had a tradition of producing fine footballers. It will be fascinating to see the next generation of talent at Under-15 level and what is in store in the future.

“The competition provides a very good platform for young players to showcase their football talent,” Football Association of Malawi (FAM) Director of Communications and Competitions Gomezgani Zakazaka said previously. “The youngsters will learn the importance of social coexistence through football by engaging with people from other parts of Africa.”

The draw for the eight-team tournament will be made in Walvis Bay ahead of the competition.

MALAWI’S PAST RESULTS
BOYS
2022: Runners-Up
2023: Runners-Up

GIRLS
2022: Third
2023: Group Stage