Malawi National Football Team will kick start the 2025 Morocco Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a home match against Burundi in their Group L.
According to fixtures released by the Confederation of African Football after the draw was held on Thursday, the match against Burundi will be played between 2 and 10 September 2024.
Flames, who are in group L alongside Senegal, Burkina Faso and Burundi, then travel to Burkina Faso on Match Day 2 between 2 and 10 September.
The Flames will then play Senegal back-to-back starting away and then at home between 7-15 October.
Flames’ last away match will be against Burundi before winding up the campaign at home against Burkina Faso between 11 -19 November.
The two top teams in the group will qualify for the AFCON finals to take place in Morocco next year.
Meanwhile, football analyst Charles Nyirenda have said the Flames have been favoured to start the campaign on home soil.
“Playing at home always gives players confidence. If they win, that will energise them to go all the way,” he said.
Reacting to the draw, Flames coach Patrick Mabedi said although the group is tough, he is optimistic about the team’s chances of finishing in the top two to secure a place at the finals.
He said: “We are in a tough group, there are good teams that have been to AFCON more often, Senegal and Burkina Faso. We need to work hard so that we can overcome them, but at the end of the day, it will be eleven versus eleven on the field.
“We need to plan and prepare to counter the experience and skills of our opponents whose players mostly play in Europe. It will be difficult but it’s not impossible.”
The qualifying matches will be played over the FIFA international windows of September, October and November this year.
The 35th edition of Afcon will be played between 21 December 2025 and 18 January 2026.
Here is a full result of AFCON 2025 qualifiers draw
Group A: Tunisia, Madagascar, Comoros and The Gambia
Group B: Morocco, Gabon, Central African Republic and Lesotho
Group C: Egypt, Cape Verde, Mauritania and Botswana
Group D: Nigeria, Benin, Libya and Rwanda
Group E: Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and Liberia
Group F: Ghana, Angola, Sudan and Niger
Group G: Côte d’ivoire, Zambia, Chad and Sierra Leone
Group H: DR Congo, Guinea, Tanzania and Ethiopia
Group I: Mali, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and Eswatini
Group J: Cameroon, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe
Group K: South Africa, Uganda, Congo and South Sudan
Group L: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Burundi
