World Cup (Q): Malawi FA pens FIFA over Gabadinho eligibility

Malawi national football team’s striker-in-chief Gabadinho Mhango’s eligibility for Monday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against São Tomé and Príncipe remains unclear. The Group H game will take place in Tunisia.

The South Africa-based striker accumulated two yellow cards; hence he was suspended for Thursday’s match against Equatorial Guinea. However, Nzalang Nacionale’s did not honour the fixture due to in-house challenges. In that case, it is unclear if Gabadinho served his suspension and can feature in the game against São Tomé.

The Football Association of Malawi has, through its first vice-president Christopher Madalitso Kuyera, since confirmed to have penned FIFA to seek guidance on the eligibility of the former Orlando Pirates man.

Why Malawi FA has written to FIFA over star striker Gabadinho

“We sought Fifa’s direction because the rules are not specific on this particular situation,” kuyera told The Nation newspaper of Malawi.

“So, we are crossing our fingers that they [Fifa] will revert to us by Monday. Otherwise, we did not want to be caught off-guard and find ourselves in a situation like South Africa, who forfeited points against Lesotho for fielding a suspended player. We want to play it safe.”

Gabadinho is the main source of goals for the Flames, who have remote chances of qualifying for the World Cup finals via play-offs. The former Moroka Swallows forward scored in back-to-back games when Malawi beat Namibia 2-1 and in the two-all draw with Liberia.

The 33-year-old, a one-time Premier Soccer League Golden Boot Award winner, picked a yellow card last match during the match against the Brave Warriors in Botswana then at home against Liberia.