Flames Defeat Sao Tome 3-1 in World Cup Qualifier
Sao Tome coach Ricardo Monsanto admitted Malawi was the better side on the day.
LILONGWE, Malawi - The Malawi national football team defeated Sao Tome and Principe 3-1 on Thursday in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier at Bingu National Stadium, writes Happy Valirani.
The Flames moved into third position in Group H with 6 points from three games, three points behind leaders Tunisia, thanks to goals from Chawanangwa Kaonga, Lanjesi Nkhoma and Chifundo Mphasi.
Denilson Silva scored Sao Tome's consolation.
Head coach Patrick Mabedi described the victory as motivating ahead of Monday's clash against Equatorial Guinea in Malabo.
"We didn't start on the high note, we were a bit slow in terms of play but I was happy that we got two goals early that demoralized the opponents. We could have scored more goals if we could have increased our tempo, but credit must go to the players for working very hard," Mabedi said.
"The win is motivation to us and everyone is confident now as we are heading to play against Equatorial Guinea."
Sao Tome coach Ricardo Monsanto admitted Malawi was the better side on the day.
"I said it before the game that Malawi is a very strong team and I knew it was not going to be an easy game. We left a lot of spaces and our opponents capitalized on those spaces and scored two goals in the first half," Monsanto said.
"We tried to come back into the game especially the first thirty minutes of the second half, we scored one goal to make it 2-1 but Malawi was very dangerous on counter attacks, they scored another goal to make it 3-1. Congratulations to Malawi."