….. Malawi 3-1 Sao Tome
…….Mabedi says it’s too early to talk about qualifying for the 2026 World Cup
By Edwin Mbewe
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Malawi National Football Team head coach Patrick “General” Mabedi says it’s too early for now to be talking about qualification to the 2026 World Cup to be hosted by the United States of America, CANADA, and Mexico.
The former Kaiser Chiefs star said this on Thursday 6th June 2024 when his side defeated Sao Tome and Principle 3-1 at the Bingu National Stadium in the capital Lilongwe in the 2026 World Cup Qualifying campaign in group H encounter.
“We need to understand our objective and what we want for now. As I said to you we need to take one game at a time, we don’t need to think and put ourselves under pressure to say we need to qualify. What is more important is to take each game we play seriously and at the end of the campaign calculate what we accumulate”, Mabedi explained.
On his assessment of Thursday’s clash against the low-ranked Sao Tome and Principle at the Bingu National Stadium, Mabedi said his charges failed to capitalize on numerous chances they created in the game hence scoring fewer goals.
The gaffer said, the Flames started the match on a slow note and picked up as it progressed.
“I was happy that we scored two early goals that demoralized the opponent. We were slow a little bit in terms of play but if we were more aggressive we could have scored more than three goals.
“We struggled in combination as we gave away some easy balls but this is because the team has not played together for some time. Lastly, let me thank supporters who came in large numbers to support us”, added Mabedi.
The Sensational Zanaco FC Striker, Chawanangwa Kaonga registered his name on a score sheet with a beautiful goal seven minutes into the game after cleverly beating Sao Tome and Principle defenders before unleashing the shot into the net.
In the 14th minute, Big Bullets’ on-fire Lanjesi Nkhoma extended Malawi’s lead sending the ball to the far bottom corner of Sao Tome and Principle goal stopper.
At halftime, the home team led 2-0 nil. Second half Malawi scored through Kabwe Warriors attacker Chifundo Mphansi who received a cake pass from Patrick Mwaungulu who is heading to DRC to join TP Mazembe after the international break alongside his team mate Lanjesi Nkhoma.
The visitors, however, scored a consolation goal through Da Silva as the game approached closure.
Malawi now sits in position 3 in group H of the campaign with 6 points from 3 games, they won 1-0 away in Liberia before being humbled 1-0 at home by the current table leaders Tunisia, at home Bingu National Stadium.
The Patrick Mabedi coached side leave the country on Friday for Equatorial Guinea for another assignment on 10th June.
Tunisia lead the group with 9 points seconded by Namibia with 7.
The winner of the group will directly qualify for the World Cup, while the four best group runners-up will participate in the playoffs to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.