Malawi U-20 coach attributes resilience to victory over CAR

Chombo-Sadiki (2nd left) celebrates with her players:

Football Association of Malawi.

Malawi’s Under-20 women’s national team coach Maggie Chombo-Sadiki has saluted her girls for their resilience after coming from behind to hold the Central African Republic (CAR) 1-1 on Sunday.

The result saw the Junior Scorchers advancing to the second round of the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers 4-2 on aggregate. The Malawi coach said her team had to dig deep to come from the match unscathed.

“Central African Republic came hard on the girls, but they never relented. That resilience is what earned us the equalizer and ultimately the qualification,” she told Football Association media.

Played on a neutral turf in Doula, Cameroon, CAR made use of home ground advantage as they went in front with Maimouna Daoud scoring in the 11th minute.

Whatever Chombo-Sadiki told her during the break paid dividends. Striker Faith Chinzumu, a late addition to the squad alongside Rose Kadzere, equalized for Malawi three minutes after the restart.

CAR tried to push for more goals, but the visitors held their own to wind down the clock and date South Sudan in the next round in September 2025.

The Malawians’ home win, courtesy of Fatima Lali’s double and Olivia Phikani strike, proved decisive in the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup Qualifier.