Malawi, Lesotho to battle for final spot

Malawi will battle it out with Lesotho in the 2023 Cosafa Cup semifinal match at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Friday.

Kick-off is at 3pm CAT (SA, GMT+2).

CURRENT FORM

The Flames booked their spot in this round of the tournament after dominating and winning Group B - winning all of their matches against Zambia, Comoros and Seychelles.

Malawi are also enjoying a five-match unbeaten run across all competitions having recorded three consecutive victories and two successive draws.

Meanwhile, Lesotho produced eye-catching displays in Group C and they won the group having registered victories over Mozambique and Mauritius before losing to Angola.

The defeat to Angola ended Likuena's two-match unbeaten run across all competitions having won two games in a row before they faced Palancas Negras.

TEAM NEWS

Neither team have any suspension concerns and they will look to their star players to inspire them to the final where they would face either Zambia or South Africa on Sunday.

Neo Mokhachane is Lesotho's dangerman having netted in two Group C games, while Malawi's key player is Patrick Mwaungulu who was named Man of the Match after the game against Comoros.

WHAT WAS SAID?

Malawi coach Patrick Mabedi

“I thank the players and my technical team as well as the supporters," Mabedi said.

"We knew they [Comoros] would park the bus but we told the players to be patient and we managed to get the goals we wanted. The players did a good job.”

Lesotho coach Leslie Notsi

"There are positives that we can take from this game [against Angola]. There are challenges that we will work on," Notsi said.

"I know Friday's game will be a different ball game altogether from this match. So, we will be ready for the semifinals on Friday."

HEAD-TO-HEAD

This will be the 22nd meeting between Malawi and Angola across all competitions.

The Flames have dominated this rivalry - winning 12 matches compared to Likuena's four victories, while five matches ended in a draw.

The last meeting between the two teams was in July 2022 and Lesotho beat Malawi 2-1 in a Cosafa Cup match played in Durban.