The role of antigen specific CD8+ T‐lymphocytes in mediating protection against sporozoite‐induced malaria has been well established in murine models. In humans, indirect evidence has accumulated suggesting a similar protective role for antigen‐specific CD8+ T‐lymphocytes. Nevertheless, the low frequency of circulating specific cells together with the lack of sensitive methods to quantify them has hampered the direct assessment of their function. Using a combination of short‐term cell culture and IFN‐γ ELISPOT, we studied CD8+ T‐lymphocyte responses to a panel of HLA‐A*0201 binding peptides. In addition to confirming the response to already described epitopes, we also identified five new CD8+ T‐lymphocyte epitopes. These epitopes are presented in pre‐erythrocytic stages gene products of Plasmodium falciparum 7G8 strain and correspond to the following protein segments: circumsporozoite (CS) 64‐72, 104‐113, 299‐308 and 403‐411; liver stage antigen (LSA‐1) repeat region; sporozoite surface protein 2 or thrombospondin related anonymous protein (SSP2/TRAP) 78–88 and 504–513. Four of these peptides are conserved amongst all published sequences of P. falciparum strains. We conclude that the modified IFN‐γ ELISPOT assay is a sensitive technique to monitor antigen‐specific CD8+ T‐lymphocyte responses in human malaria which may help in the improvement and assessment of the efficacy of malaria subunit vaccines.