World Cup (Q): São Tomé wanted it more – Pasuwa

Malawi coach Kalisto Pasuwa has rued his team’s 1-0 loss to minnows São Tomé and Príncipe in a qualifying match for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Tunisia on Monday.

Ronald Alfonso’s 62nd minute goal from the penalty spot, awarded after a foul, ended Malawi’s slim chances for a spot in the World Cup play-offs round from Group H. Reflecting on the fifth loss in 10 qualifying matches of three wins and one draw, Pasuwa seemed to question his players’ hunger to win the game.

“Remember, our opponents last lost 6-0 against Tunisia, and we didn’t play a game [against Equatorial Guinea on Thursday]. If you saw the way we played today, our opponents wanted it more than us,” the coach told the Football Association of Malawi media.

How São Tomé and Príncipe frustrated Malawi

The Flames coach observed how the Central African opposition stifled the Malawians with defensive football.

“They were hitting route-one football. They played the second ball most of the times when they were coming to us. They had one chance. They went into the box and they got a penalty,” the Zimbabwean explained.

“Most of the times, they were sitting with nine players behind they ball and we were failing to breach them and go to the last line. Normally, we talk of tactics but it wasn’t tactics per say. We had the numbers. We had the boys who were supposed to go into spaces. We had the guys who were dropping to get the boys, but we were not patient enough. We wanted to hit long balls into the box to Baba [Babatunde Adepoju] and [Richard] Mbulu who were in the box.”

The five-time TNM Super League-title winning mentor admitted that it was embarrassing losing São Tomé and Príncipe who had not won in nine games for the group before Monday.

“It is very unfortunate. We wanted to finish on a high note and we ended up losing to Sao Tome, a team which is behind us in terms of the world rankings. It is one thing which will affect us mentally. We would have wanted to win in order to see the direction we are going in terms of AFCON,” Pasuwa added.

Having beaten the Falcons and True Parrots 3-1 in Lilongwe in the first leg, much was expected from the Flames in this Group H game. However, it was the hosts who wound up their World Cup qualifying race on a high although still lying bottom.

The Flames finished in fifth place with 10 points and could make it to 13 points if awarded points from an aborted match against Equatorial Guinea.