Two sides who picked up contrasting midweek results go head to head in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers as Equatorial Guinea play host to Malawi at the Nuevo Estadio de Malabo on Monday.
The Nzalang Nacional have won each of their last eight competitive home matches since 2019 and will head into the weekend looking to extend this impressive run.
Match preview
© Reuters
Equatorial Guinea suffered a huge blow in their quest for a place in the 2026 World Cup as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Tunisia at the Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi on Wednesday.
With nothing to separate the two nations heading into the final 10 minutes of the game, Ferencvaros man Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane came up clutch for the hosts as he converted his 82nd-minute penalty to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Equatorial Guinea took a six-point deduction after they were forced to forfeit their opening two matches by FIFA after fielding an ineligible player in their opening two games.
With their midweek defeat, Juan Micha's men have now lost three of their last four matches across all competitions, including a 1-0 loss to 10-man Equatorial Guinea in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations round-of-16 back in January.
Equatorial Guinea will be backing themselves to get their qualifying quest up and running this weekend as they now return home, where they have won each of their last nine competitive matches, scoring 12 goals and keeping eight clean sheets, since a 1-0 defeat to Tunisia in the AFCON qualifiers back in November 2019.
Malawi, on the other hand, returned to winning ways in the qualifiers as they picked up a 3-1 victory over Sao Tome and Principe at the Bingu National Stadium on Thursday.
Chawa and Lanjesi Nkhoma scored inside the opening 15 minutes to put the Flames in front and after Denilson Silva pulled one back in the 67th minute, Chifundo Mphasi struck 11 minutes later to see off any comeback scare.
Malawi had kicked off their qualifying campaign on November 17 when they secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Liberia at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, four days before suffering a 1-0 home defeat against Tunisia.
Patrick Mabedi's men have picked up six points from their three matches in Group H to occupy third place in the standings and could move level with first-placed Tunisia with all three points on Monday.
Team News
© Reuters
Equatorial Guinea boss Micha made just one change in the game against Tunisia last time out and we expect the 48-year-old to name an unchanged starting XI on Monday.
Should that be the case, Pablo Ganet, Omar Mascarell, Jannick Buyla and Sassuolo's Pedro Obiang should start in midfield once again while the duo of Dorian Hanza and Moreirnese striker Luis Asue should lead the attack.
Basilio Ndong, Esteban Orozco, Saul Coco and San Jose Earthquakes full-back Carlos Akapo should form the back four, with Alaves goalkeeper Jesus Owono starting between the sticks.
As for Malawi, Zanaco forward Robert Saizi was forced off injured midway through the first half against Sao Tome and Principe and the 20-year-old is a major doubt for Monday's game.
Should he fail to shake off the injury, 22-year-old Patrick Mwaungulu should come into the fold, teaming up with teenage striker Mphasi and the experienced Chawa in the final third.
Equatorial Guinea possible starting lineup:
Owono; Ndong, Orozco, Coco, Akapo; Ganet, Mascarell, Buyla, Obiang; Hanza, Asue
Malawi possible starting lineup:
Chokooka; Sanudi, Mwale, Chembezi, Mbalaka; Idana, Aaron, Nkhoma; Mwaungulu, Mphasi, Chawa
We say: Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Malawi
While Malawi will be looking to pick up where they left off against Sao Tome, they are in for a tough 90 minutes against Equatorial Guinea who are known to be rock-solid on home soil. That said, we predict an action-packed affair at the Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, with the hosts claiming all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
