In the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, the Flames of Malawi are aiming for a back-to-back victory before their away game in Equatorial Guinea.

Following after a 3-1 victory over Sao Tome at home, despite the victory, Malawi had several scoring opportunities but failed to take them.

It will be a tough matchup against Equatorial Guinea on Monday because the host country has neither goals nor points after FIFA sanctioned the usage of leading scorer Emilio Nsue from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Equatorial Guinea forfeited two World Cup qualifying games last November. These two games they won against Namibia and Liberia. Their third match was against Tunisia, and they lost 1-0.

The team is now second from bottom in its six-team qualifying group for the 2026 tournament. It had previously been tied on six points with group leader Tunisia.

Malawi is third with 6 points, while Namibia is second with 7 points and Tunisia leads with 9 points.

The Flames have chances to come second if they beat Equatorial Guinea, but it will not be easy as they are also fighting to have points at their home ground.

Despite the victory, coach Patrick Mabedi stated that his squad needs to improve on its flaws before playing Equatorial Guinea.

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“Yes, we won but we made a number of mistakes, we have taken note of them, and we will try to fix them,” he said.