WAFCON Warm Up: Fazili warns Malawi ready for anyone, as Nora Hauptle takes blame for Zambia defeat

Photo Credit - Football Association of Zambia.

Malawi senior women’s football team coach Lovemore Fazili has declared the Scorchers ready for any competition after winding up their tour of Zambia with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Copper Queens in a second friendly on Tuesday afternoon.

Fazili said the tour of Zambia, which started with a 2-0 loss to the hosts on Sunday, had given his charges enough preparation for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) qualifiers.

“Zambia is a strong team in women’s football in this region. We have beaten them but we still respect them. If you compare Malawi to Zimbabwe and Angola, they are not at our level. This was not a friendly match. It was like a competitive match. Therefore, any team that will slip up will get five or six goals,” he said.

He attributed the win to the attacking approach which turned the game's fortunes.

“If you talk about Zambia, you talk about a squad comprising Barbra Banda and we have beaten such a strong team. Forget about the game at the COSAFA Championship. This was the real Zambia,” Fazili added.

The Scorchers’ win ended a run of two consecutive losses to Zambia in all competitions, thanks to a late fightback at Reiz Arena in Lusaka. Rachel Kundananji slammed the ball home from a rebound after an initial attempt had bounced off the upright in the sixth minute to torch early celebrations.

Zambia led 1-0 at the break. In the second half, the visitors replied with France-based striker Rose Kadzere leveling matters making the most of a defensive mistake two minutes into the second half.

A few minutes later, Faith Chimzimu extended Malawi’s lead in the 59th minute before Sabitha Thom made it 3-1 in the 61st minute after firing the ball into the net when she connected skipper Tabitha Chawinga’s ball across the goal mouth from the left in a blistering counterattack.

Rachel Nachula reduced the deficit for Zambia with four minutes remaining on the clock but it was too late for a comeback.

The neighbours are preparing for the final qualifying round of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. Malawi will face the winner between Zimbabwe and Angola.

Meanwhile, Zambia Nora Hauptle accepted the blame for the Copper Queens loss to Malawi, saying her attacking approach after going ahead might have backfired.

“I take it on me. We entered the second half and I wanted to add something offensive. We switched to a 4-4-2 so we brought a second striker on the pitch,” Hauptle said.

The coach, who replaced Bruce Mwape recently, also hinted that possession-based way of playing she is introducing in the team as partly contributing to the downfall.

“I know sometimes when you play possession football, there could be an error and they could punish it [but] it is a learning process we need to allow the players,” she said.