Malawi National Football Team will this evening know its opponents at the 2023 Cosafa Cup during a draw scheduled for Sandton Sun in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Council for Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) yesterday announced in a statement that 12 teams will compete in the 2023 edition scheduled for Durban, South Africa from July 5 to 16.

The Flames taking on Lesotho in Cosafa Cup in South Africa last year

The statement reads: “A new format for this year will see the teams drawn into three groups of four sides, with the top side in each pool advancing to the semi-finals along with the best-placed runner-up.

“Hosts South Africa will be the seeded team in Group A, while defending champions Zambia will be the lead side in Group B. Mozambique, by virtue of their ranking, are the seeded side in Group C.

“The other nine teams in this year’s competition are Angola, Botswana, Comoros, e-Swatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia and Seychelles.”

During the draw, the Flames, alongside Angola and Namibia, will be in Pot 1 as the next highest ranked teams.

The remaining six sides will be added to the groups in a sequence in which they are drawn out.

The 2023 edition will be played using a new format which will see all teams starting from group stages.

There will also be no Plate section, previously competed for by losing quarter-finalists.

The statement reads in part: “It is a departure from the previous format in which there were two groups of four teams and another six sides entered at the quarter-final stage.

“The new format ensures each country will play a minimum of three games up to a maximum of five over the course of the competition.

“It also allows for an extra days’ rest between most pool games, a boost for player welfare.”

The pool games will be played from July 5-12, with the semi-finals on July 14 and the final and third-place play-off to be staged at the King Zwelithini Stadium two day’s later.

The tournament was initially expected to be held this month, but was curtailed following hosts South Africa Football Association’s decision to stop hosting Cosafa events.

However, the regional football governing body and Safa resolved their differences, paving the way for the competition to return in the Indian Ocean coast city of Durban.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka said Flames interim coach Patrick Mabedi is expected to use the tournament to prepare for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Guinea.

He said: “The tournament will come just before the Flames last 2023 Afcon qualifier against Guinea as such it gives coach enough game time to assess the players.”

Last year, the Flames, under fired Mario Marinica, failed to make it to the knockout stage as they only managed a 1-0 win against a Mauritius second string side, a 1-1 draw against e-Swatini and lost 2-1 to Lesotho.

Zimbabwe and Zambia are tied on six Cosafa titles each with South Africa trailing with five, Angola three and Namibia one.

Mozambique, Malawi  and Botswana have all been losing finalists twice.

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