WAFCON: Fazili reacts to Malawi ‘group of death’ draw with Nigeria

Malawi women’s national team coach Lovemore Fazili has reacted to the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) finals’ draw held in Morocco on Thursday. The draw for the 14th edition of the competitionwas held in Rabat.

Fazili admitted that the Scorchers have been thrown into the deep end to face giants in what he described as a group of death comprising record-champions Nigeria, among others.

The Malawians will compete in Group C which also comprises regional rivals Zambia and Egypt. All the group-stage matches will take place in Casablanca.

“On paper, we have been drawn against big teams. It is called the group of death for a reason, but that also gives us hope and motivation to fight at the highest level,” Fazili told the Football Association of Malawi website.

“We have the defending champions in our group, so we need to analyse all our opponents thoroughly.”

The coach has since called for thorough preparations for the WAFCON finals to run from March 17th through 3rd April 2026 in the North African country.

“Our preparations will be stiff. We will utilise COSAFA to give opportunities to local players so that we go to Morocco strong. We are not changing the squad, but we will expand it to fix loopholes and improve competition within the team,” the coach added.

When will Malawi make their WAFCON debut?

Malawi will make their WAFCON debut against Nigeria on 18 March, before meeting Egypt three days later and wrap up the group’s race with Zambia on 24 March.

The Scorchers sealed their maiden place at the WAFCON finals after overcoming Angola 2-0 on aggregate over two legs last November.