This archive report was first published on 18 August 2021.
The Malawi national football team, also known as The Flames, has been drawn alongside Senegal, Guinea, and Zimbabwe in group B of the AFCON Cameroon 2021.
According to the draw held on Tuesday evening in Yaoundé, Cameroun, the team will be based in the city of Bafoussam and play their matches at the 20,000-seater Kouekong Stadium.
The Flames will start their campaign on 10th January 2022 against Guinea before facing Zimbabwe on 14th January 2022. Their last group game will be against Senegal four days later.
Flames coach Meck Mwase described the draw as fair, saying, 'That's how the draw has happened and we have to prepare to meet these teams. We have to be strong mentally and physically. All the teams that are here would have been in our group so we have to take what we have and prepare accordingly.'
On the team's chances of progressing to the knockout stages, Mwase said, 'All the teams in our group have the same equal opportunity to progress and for us to make it will depend on how we will prepare.'
The team will face Cameroun and Mozambique on 3rd and 7th September respectively in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
