The British Council arranged for his appointment through the English Football Association to coach the team for the Republic Celebrations, playing Madagascar and Zambia.

Ray Batchelor was coach for four years from 11 November 1967 to 10 October 1971, guiding the team in 23 friendly matches and two Olympic Games.

After a 3-0 defeat against Algeria, World Cup participants in 1982 and 1986, the Malawi drew 2-2 in the second game against eventual finalists Nigeria.

In the group matches of the third round, Malawi, third place behind Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso and with a record of only four points and 4–11 goal difference, was enough to make it to the continental finals.

One of the goalscorers was striker Russel Mwafulirwa, who at the time was under contract for the Swedish first division club IFK Norrköping and was thus one of only two players in the 23-man squad active in Europe.

Win Draw Loss Fixture [7] The following players were named to the squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Burundi and Burkina Faso on 14 and 18 November 2024.