Mayele Malango has been called up to the Malawi National Team for October training camp, the first time Malango will represent Malawi at the senior level. In his first season for the Red Wolves, Malango has scored three goals this season, with two of them coming in Chattanooga’s last three games.
“It means a lot to me to be called up. It’s every player’s dream to play for Malawi,” says Malango. “I am from the Congo, but I grew up in Malawi. I left the Congo in 1998 because of the war, and Malawi took me in. I appreciate them taking me in as a refugee, and it made me want to play for them today.”
Mayele moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, in 2015 as a junior in high school. Here he would learn what it was like to play in soccer cleats for the first time after growing up playing soccer in bare feet in his home country while his teammates helped him translate because he did not know much English at the time.
Malango turned pro at the end of his sophomore season in college at the University of Massachusetts–Lowell followed by time playing for USL League One side New England Revolution II before ultimately joining the Chattanooga Red Wolves in 2023.
Malawi will begin their group stage qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in November. Malawi will be playing their group stage games over the course of two years. The first of ten group stage games will be against Liberia on November 13th with the time to be determined. The second match will be against Tunisia on November 20th also at a to be determined time. Malango will join the national team camp on Monday, October 16th which will take place at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, Malawi.
