Mali Shocks Tunisia, Reaches AFCON Semifinals!

After Senegal which won in Tangier against Sudan (3-1), place in the second round of 16 of this CAN 2025 between Tunisia and Mali in Casablanca. On paper, the poster was rather attractive between the two teams. But we also knew the liabilities between the two selections which have often, in recent years, delivered soporific performances.

We could therefore fear another closed match between the two teams. Well, it didn’t fail, on the contrary. At a choppy start to the match, Mali multiplied the mistakes in a rather surprising way, preventing us from seeing some enticing football. To make matters worse, both teams showed technical clumsiness which did not bode well. After 20 minutes of play, the Malian selection had already committed 13 fouls. And we wondered how this match could end at 11 against 11. A legitimate question since a few minutes later, Woyo Coulibaly was sent off.

Mali broke down at the end of the match

The Sassuolo defender was guilty of a rough sole on the ankle of Hannibal Mejbri, moving and touched several times by the irregular interventions of the Malians. The match referee did not flinch, nor did the VAR. Red (26th)! At 10 against 11 for more than an hour, Mali was condemned to do nothing but defend against a Tunisian team forced to play the game.

But in a boring second half despite a very good atmosphere and more than 41,000 spectators, we had to wait until the last seconds of the match to see the only goal of the match. It was signed… Firas Chaouat. On a very good ball from Achouri, the Club Africain striker, who had just come on, placed a precise header to give his team the victory (1-0, 88th). At least, that’s what he thought. Because on the last Malian offensive, on a harmless free kick, Meriah touched the leather with her hand and Sinayoko did not tremble to convert her penalty (1-1, 90th + 6). Enough to offer a penalty shootout since extra time did not help to decide the decision. And in this little game, it was Mali who came out taking advantage of the Tunisians’ clumsiness in the exercise, despite several misses on Mali’s side.