A JUNIOR FLAMES COHORT THAT FAILED TO FULFILL ITS POTENTIAL
By qualifying for the 2009 edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which took place in Nigeria, the Malawi U-17 national team became Malawi’s first - and to date only - national team to qualify for a World Cup tournament. Following this monumental achievement, football fanatics across the country earmarked the 2009 U-17 cohort as a collective that was destined to turn Malawi into an African football powerhouse. However, 12 years later, when the average age of the 21-member junior Flames squad that travelled to the tournament is 27.6, the senior national team languishes on position 123 on FIFA rankings and continues to underperform even at COSAFA tournaments. So, what happened to this cohort that was expected to propel Malawian football to greater heights? As of the 2020/21 football calendar, only 10 of the 21 members that represented the country at the tournament are playing top flight football - all attached to TNM Super League teams. These are: Jailos Kapalamula ( MAFCO ), Victor Nan