Mali national football team facts for kids

History

Results and fixtures

Coaching staff

Players

Records

Competition records

Head-to-head record

Team kit

2022

2023

Coaching history

Current squad

Recent call-ups

Africa Cup of Nations

African Nations Championship

FIFA World Cup

African Games

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This page is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Mali women's national football team.

Quick facts for kids
Mali

Nickname(s)

Les Aigles (The Eagles)

Association

Malian Football Federation

Confederation

CAF (Africa)

Sub-confederation

WAFU (West Africa)

Head coach

Éric Chelle

Captain

Hamari Traoré

Most caps

Seydou Keita (102)

Top scorer

Seydou Keita (25)

Home stadium

Stade du 26 Mars

FIFA code

MLI

First colours

Second colours

FIFA ranking

Current

1 (7 February 2019)

Highest

23 (June 2013)

Lowest

117 (October 2001)

Elo ranking

Current

5 (3 March 2019)

Highest

40 (19 December 1971)

Lowest

127 (September 1996)

First international

Mali 4–3 Central African Republic

(Madagascar; 13 April 1960)

Biggest win

Mali 11–0 Mauritania

(Senegal; 1 October 1972)

Biggest defeat

Algeria 7–0 Mali

(Algeria; 13 November 1988)

Kuwait 8–1 Mali

(Kuwait City, Kuwait; 5 September 1997)

Africa Cup of Nations

Appearances

12 (first in 1972)

Best result

Runners-up (1972)

African Nations Championship

Appearances

3 (first in 2011)

Best result

Runners-up (2016, 2020)

The Mali national football team (French: Équipe de football du Mali ) represents Mali in men's international football and is governed by the Malian Football Federation. The team's nickname is Les Aigles. They represent both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

While Mali is a major youth football power in both Africa and the world, they have never qualified for any senior FIFA World Cup finals in history. They have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations on 12 occasions.

Mali were suspended by FIFA on 17 March 2017 due to 'government interference' with the national football association, namely dissolving its executive committee. However, the side was re-instated by FIFA on 29 April after the executive committee was re-introduced by the Malian government.

Mali reached the 1972 African Nations Cup final, but lost 3–2 to Congo. They failed to qualify for the finals again until 1994 when they reached the semi-finals, an achievement repeated in 2002, 2004, 2012 and 2013.

They played their first World Cup qualifier in the year 2000. As part of the CAF's qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup, Mali lost in the preliminary round to Libya. Two years later, the country hosted the 2002 African Cup of Nations.

Mali's under-23's team managed to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece. The team coached by Cheick Kone managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament before losing to Italy.

In the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Mali beat Guinea-Bissau in the preliminaries. In the resulting second round, Mali finished fifth in its group. On 27 March 2005, riots broke out in Bamako after Mali lost a World Cup qualifier to Togo, 2–1 on a last minute goal.

In the 2010 African Nations Cup, Mali made football headlines for coming back from losing 4–0 with eleven minutes left to level 4–4 with Angola. It is considered to be one of the best comebacks in recent memory, alongside Sweden's famous comeback against Germany in a 2014 World Cup qualifier with a same scoreline.

Manufacturer	Period
Kappa	1998–2003
Baliston	2003–2007
Airness	2007–

Main page: Mali national football team results (2020–present)

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Win Draw Loss

2021 AFCON 12 January	Tunisia	0–1	Mali	Limbe, Cameroon
		https://www.cafonline.com/total-africa-cup-of-nations/matches/2021/2243280/match-report	Koné 48' (pen.)	Stadium: Limbe Stadium Referee: Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)

2021 AFCON 16 January	Gambia	1–1	Mali	Limbe, Cameroon
	Mu. Barrow 90' (pen.)	https://www.cafonline.com/total-africa-cup-of-nations/matches/2021/2243283/match-report	Koné 79' (pen.)	Stadium: Limbe Stadium Referee: Samir Guezzaz (Morocco)

2021 AFCON 20 January	Mali	2–0	Mauritania	Douala, Cameroon
	M. Haïdara 2' Koné 49' (pen.)	https://www.cafonline.com/total-africa-cup-of-nations/matches/2021/2243285/match-report		Stadium: Japoma Stadium Referee: Bernard Camille (Seychelles)

2022 World Cup qualification 1st Leg 25 March	Mali	0–1	Tunisia	Bamako, Mali
17:00 UTC±0		https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022/qualifiers/caf/match-center/400228714	Sissako 36' (o.g.)	Stadium: Stade du 26 Mars Referee: Bamlak Tessema Weyesa (Ethiopia)

2022 World Cup qualification 2nd Leg 29 March	Tunisia	0–0	Mali	Tunis, Tunisia
20:30 UTC+1		https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022/qualifiers/caf/match-center/400228706		Stadium: Stade Hammadi Agrebi Referee: Maguette Ndiaye (Senegal)

2023 AFCON qualification 4 June	Mali	4–0	Congo	Bamako, Mali
19:00	Camara 1' Touré 11', 40' Coulibaly 44'	https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2022/06/04/africa/africa-cup-of-nations-qualification/mali/congo/3783032/		Stadium: Stade du 26 Mars Referee: Abdel Aziz Bouh (Mauritania)

2023 AFCON qualification 9 June	South Sudan	1–3	Mali	Entebbe, Uganda
15:00 UTC+3	Kouyaté 29' (o.g.)	https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2022/06/09/africa/africa-cup-of-nations-qualification/south-sudan/mali/3783035/	Camara 59' Koïta 90+3' Dieng 90+5'	Stadium: St. Mary's Stadium-Kitende Referee: Mashood Ssali (Uganda)

Friendly 23 September	Mali	1–0	Zambia	Bamako, Mali
	Touré 9'			Stadium: Stade du 26 Mars

Friendly 16 November	Algeria	1–1	Mali	Oran, Algeria
				Stadium: Oran Olympic Stadium

2023 AFCON qualification March	Mali	v	Gambia	Mali
		https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2022/09/19/africa/africa-cup-of-nations-qualification/mali/gambia/3783036/

2023 AFCON qualification March	Gambia	v	Mali
		https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2022/09/27/africa/africa-cup-of-nations-qualification/gambia/mali/3783038/

2023 AFCON qualification September	Congo	v	Mali

2023 AFCON qualification September	Mali	v	South Sudan

Position	Name
Head Coach	Eric Chelle
Assistant Coach	Fousseni Diawara
Goalkeeper Coach	Mahamadou Sidibé

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

Ben Oumar Sy (1960–66)
György Tóth (1966–70)
Karl-Heinz Weigang (1970–73)
Mykola Holovko (1979–82)
Kidian Diallo (1982–89)
Molobaly Sissoko (1989–93)
Mamadou Keïta (1993–97)
Christian Sarramagna (1998–2000)
Romano Mattè (2000–01)
Henryk Kasperczak (2001–02)
Christian Dalger (2002–03)
Henri Stambouli (2003–04)
Alain Moizan (2004)
Mamadou Keïta (2004–05)
Pierre Lechantre (2005–06)
Amadou Pathé Diallo (2006)
Jean-François Jodar (2006–08)
Stephen Keshi (2008–10)
Alain Giresse (2010–12)
Amadou Pathé Diallo (2012)
Patrice Carteron (2012–13)
Amadou Pathé Diallo (2013)
Henryk Kasperczak (2013–15)
Alain Giresse (2015–17)
Mohamed Magassouba (2017–2022)
Éric Chelle (2022–)

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Algeria on 16 November 2022.

Caps and goals correct as of 9 June 2022, after the match against South Sudan.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
16	1GK	Djigui Diarra	(1995-02-27) 27 February 1995 (age 28)	48	0	Young Africans
1	1GK	Ibrahim Mounkoro	(1990-02-23) 23 February 1990 (age 33)	14	0	Mazembe
22	1GK	Ismael Diawara	(1994-11-11) 11 November 1994 (age 29)	5	0	Malmö FF

2	2DF	Hamari Traoré	(1992-01-27) 27 January 1992 (age 31)	44	1	Rennes
17	2DF	Falaye Sacko	(1995-05-01) 1 May 1995 (age 28)	29	1	Montpellier
15	2DF	Mamadou Fofana	(1998-01-21) 21 January 1998 (age 25)	28	2	Amiens
5	2DF	Boubakar Kouyaté	(1997-04-15) 15 April 1997 (age 26)	23	0	Metz
6	2DF	Massadio Haïdara	(1992-12-02) 2 December 1992 (age 31)	14	1	Lens
3	2DF	Amadou Dante	(2000-10-07) 7 October 2000 (age 23)	2	0	Sturm Graz
21	2DF	Daouda Guindo	(2002-10-14) 14 October 2002 (age 21)	0	0	St. Gallen

4	3MF	Amadou Haidara	(1998-01-31) 31 January 1998 (age 25)	32	2	RB Leipzig
11	3MF	Lassana Coulibaly	(1996-04-10) 10 April 1996 (age 27)	31	0	Salernitana
8	3MF	Diadie Samassékou	(1996-01-11) 11 January 1996 (age 27)	30	1	Olympiacos
18	3MF	Cheick Doucouré	(2000-01-08) 8 January 2000 (age 23)	8	0	Crystal Palace
12	3MF	Boubacar Traoré	(2001-08-20) 20 August 2001 (age 22)	1	0	Wolverhampton Wanderers
14	3MF	Fady Sidiki Coulibaly	(2002-01-27) 27 January 2002 (age 21)	0	0	Djoliba AC

10	4FW	Kalifa Coulibaly	(1991-08-21) 21 August 1991 (age 32)	28	6	Red Star Belgrade
20	4FW	Sékou Koïta	(1999-11-28) 28 November 1999 (age 24)	17	4	Red Bull Salzburg
23	4FW	Ibrahima Koné	(1999-06-16) 16 June 1999 (age 24)	14	8	Lorient
9	4FW	El Bilal Touré	(2001-10-03) 3 October 2001 (age 22)	15	5	Almería
7	4FW	Nene Dorgeles	(2002-12-23) 23 December 2002 (age 20)	4	0	Westerlo
13	4FW	Aboubacar Diarra	(1993-05-22) May 22, 1993 (age 30)	1	0	Wehdat
19	4FW	Ibrahim Diarra	(1998-05-19) May 19, 1998 (age 25)	0	0	GOAL FC

The following players have been called up for Mali in the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up

DF	Almamy Touré	(1996-04-28) 28 April 1996 (age 27)	0	0	Eintracht Frankfurt	v. South Sudan, 9 June 2022
DF	Senou Coulibaly	(1994-09-04) 4 September 1994 (age 29)	3	0	Dijon	v. Tunisia, 29 March 2022
DF	Cheick Traoré	(1995-03-31) 31 March 1995 (age 28)	2	0	Dijon	v. Tunisia, 29 March 2022
DF	Issaka Samaké	(1994-10-20) 20 October 1994 (age 29)	18	2	Horoya	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
DF	Charles Traoré	(1992-01-01) 1 January 1992 (age 31)	8	0	Nantes	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
DF	Moussa Sissako	(2000-11-10) 10 November 2000 (age 23)	4	0	Sochi	2021 Africa Cup of Nations

MF	Yves Bissouma	(1996-08-30) 30 August 1996 (age 27)	27	3	Tottenham Hotspur	v. Zambia, 23 September 2022
MF	Aliou Dieng	(1997-10-16) 16 October 1997 (age 26)	25	2	Al Ahly	v. Zambia, 23 September 2022
MF	Mohamed Camara	(2000-01-06) 6 January 2000 (age 23)	12	3	Monaco	v. Zambia, 23 September 2022
MF	Yaqoub Alhassan	(2001-02-07) 7 February 2001 (age 22)	0	0	Al Taawoun	Training camp, August 2022
MF	Abdoulaye Doucouré	(1993-01-01) 1 January 1993 (age 30)	2	0	Everton	v. Tunisia, 29 March 2022
MF	Adama Noss Traoré	(1995-06-28) 28 June 1995 (age 28)	27	3	Hull City	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
MF	Rominigue Kouamé	(1996-12-07) 7 December 1996 (age 26)	10	0	Troyes	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
MF	Hamidou Traoré	(1996-10-07) 7 October 1996 (age 27)	1	0	Giresunspor	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
MF	Kamory Doumbia	(2003-02-18) 18 February 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Stade de Reims	v. Zambia, 23 September 2022

FW	Adama Malouda Traoré	(1995-06-05) 5 June 1995 (age 28)	47	8	Ferencváros	v. Zambia, 23 September 2022
FW	Moussa Djenepo	(1998-06-15) 15 June 1998 (age 25)	29	3	Southampton	v. Zambia, 23 September 2022
FW	Moussa Doumbia	(1994-08-15) 15 August 1994 (age 29)	36	5	Sochaux	v. Tunisia, 29 March 2022
FW	Abdoulay Diaby	(1991-05-21) 21 May 1991 (age 32)	26	7	Al Jazira	v. Tunisia, 29 March 2022
FW	Saliou Guindo	(1996-09-12) 12 September 1996 (age 27)	1	0	Dibba Al Fujairah	v. Tunisia, 29 March 2022
FW	Ibrahim Sissoko	(1995-11-27) 27 November 1995 (age 28)	0	0	Sochaux	v. Tunisia, 29 March 2022
FW	Lassine Sinayoko	(1999-12-08) 8 December 1999 (age 23)	5	0	Auxerre	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
^DCL Player refused to join the team after the call-up. ^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. ^PRE Preliminary squad. ^RET Player has retired from international football. ^SUS Suspended from the national team.

Players in bold are still active with Mali.

Most appearances
Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Seydou Keita	102	25	1998–2015
2	Mahamadou Sidibé	97	0	1996–2010
3	Bassala Touré	95	17	1992–2008
4	Adama Tamboura	89	0	2004–2015
5	Adama Coulibaly	85	1	1998–2014
6	Soumaila Coulibaly	83	14	1995–2009
7	Mahamadou Diarra	73	7	1998–2012
8	Modibo Maïga	58	12	2007–2016
9	Ousmane Farota	57	0	1985–1997
10	Fousseni Diawara	56	0	2001–2015

Top goalscorers
Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Seydou Keita	25	102	0.25	1998–2015
2	Frédéric Kanouté	23	39	0.77	2004–2010
3	Bassala Touré	17	95	0.18	1994–2008
4	Cheick Diabaté	15	38	0.39	2005–2016
5	Yaya Dissa	14	42	0.33	1995–2001
5	Soumaila Coulibaly	14	83	0.17	1995–2009
7	Modibo Maïga	12	58	0.21	2007–2016
8	Ibrahima Koné	11	14	0.79	2017–present
8	Salif Keïta	11	26	0.42	1964–1972
10	Mahamadou Dissa	10	35	0.29	1997–2008
10	Mamadou Diallo	10	45	0.22	2001–2010

Main page: Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations

Mali have never won the Africa Cup of Nations; their best result at the tournament was runners-up in 1972. Mali have qualified for the tournament twelve times in total, finishing as runners-up once, third twice, and fourth three times. Prior to 2008, each time Mali qualified, they reached the knockout stage having only qualified four times before then.

Africa Cup of Nations record										Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1957	Part of France									Part of France
1959	Part of France									Part of France
1962	Did not enter									Did not enter
1963	Did not enter									Did not enter
1965	Did not qualify									Did not qualify
1968
1970
1972	Runners-up	2nd	5	1	3	1	11	11	Squad	4	3	1	0	7	2
1974	Did not qualify									4	1	3	0	8	6
1976										2	1	0	1	5	3
1978										2	1	0	1	1	2
1980										Did not enter
1982										4	2	0	2	7	7
1984										4	2	0	2	5	6
1986										4	1	2	1	4	9
1988										Withdrew
1990										6	2	3	1	8	7
1992										6	0	3	3	2	7
1994	Fourth place	4th	5	2	0	3	4	8	Squad	6	3	1	2	8	7
1996	Did not qualify									10	5	1	4	15	10
1998										6	3	0	3	9	9
2000										8	3	4	1	8	3
2002	Fourth place	4th	6	2	2	2	5	5	Squad	Qualified as hosts
2004	Fourth place	4th	6	3	1	2	10	10	Squad	6	4	1	1	9	2
2006	Did not qualify									12	4	2	6	15	15
2008	Group stage	10th	3	1	1	1	1	3	Squad	6	3	3	0	10	1
2010	Group stage	9th	3	1	1	1	7	6	Squad	12	6	3	3	21	15
2012	Third place	3rd	6	3	1	2	6	5	Squad	6	3	1	2	9	6
2013	Third place	3rd	6	2	2	2	7	8	Squad	2	2	0	0	7	1
2015	Group stage	10th	3	0	3	0	3	3	Squad	6	3	0	3	8	6
2017	Group stage	12th	3	0	2	1	1	2	Squad	6	5	1	0	13	3
2019	Round of 16	11th	4	2	1	1	6	3	Squad	6	4	2	0	10	2
2021	Round of 16	11th	4	2	2	0	4	1	Squad	6	4	1	1	10	4
2023	To be determined									To be determined
2025	To be determined									To be determined
Total	Runners-up	12/33	54	19	19	16	65	65	—	136	65	32	38	199	133

Mali has competed in four African Nations Championship tournaments, finishing as runners-up twice.

African Nations Championship record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2009	Did not qualify								2	0	2	0	0	0
2011	Group stage	13th	3	0	1	2	1	3	2	1	1	0	3	1
2014	Quarter-finals	8th	4	2	1	1	6	5	2	1	0	1	3	2
2016	Runners-up	2nd	6	3	2	1	6	6	4	2	2	0	7	4
2018	Did not qualify								4	1	2	1	6	3
2020	Runners-up	2nd	6	2	3	1	3	3	4	3	1	0	9	0
2022	Qualified								2	2	0	0	4	1
Total	Runners-up	4/6	19	7	7	5	16	17	20	10	8	2	32	11

FIFA World Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter								Did not enter
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966	Withdrew								Withdrew
1970	Did not enter								Did not enter
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994	Withdrew								Withdrew
1998	Withdrew								Withdrew
2002	Did not qualify								2	1	0	1	3	4
2006									12	4	2	6	15	15
2010									16	8	3	5	30	21
2014									6	2	2	2	7	7
2018									8	1	4	3	4	10
2022									8	5	2	1	11	1
2026	To be determined								To be determined
Total		0/22	0	0	0	0	0	0	52	21	13	18	70	58

African Games record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1965	Runners-up	5	3	1	1	10	5
1973	Did not qualify
1978	Group stage	3	0	2	1	3	5
1987	Did not qualify
1991–present	See Mali national under-23 football team
Total	2/4	8	3	3	2	13	10

AFCON Round of 16 26 January

0–0
(5–6 pen)

Equatorial Guinea

Limbe, Cameroon

https://www.cafonline.com/total-africa-cup-of-nations/matches/2021/2243293/match-report

Stadium: Limbe Stadium
Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

Penalties

*A. N. Traoré
Djenepo

M. Haïdara

Hama. Traoré

Touré

Dieng

Camara

Sacko

* E. Nsue
Belima

Akapo

Buyla

Ganet

Coco

Salvador

Eneme

Team	Confederation	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Algeria	CAF	24	10	2	12	22	36	–14
Angola	CAF	4	1	2	1	8	5	+3
Benin	CAF	16	8	7	1	27	16	+11
Botswana	CAF	7	6	0	1	19	5	+14
Burkina Faso	CAF	21	13	3	5	36	20	+16
Cameroon	CAF	6	0	2	4	3	8	–5
Cape Verde	CAF	7	3	2	2	10	4	+6
Chad	CAF	2	2	0	0	4	2	+2
China PR	AFC	2	1	0	1	3	5	–2
Congo	CAF	10	5	2	3	14	9	+5
Congo DR	CAF	6	3	1	2	11	9	+2
Croatia	UEFA	1	0	0	1	1	2	–1
Egypt	CAF	10	4	2	4	8	8	0
Equatorial Guinea	CAF	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5
Eritrea	CAF	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3
Ethiopia	CAF	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1
Gabon	CAF	12	2	5	5	10	16	–6
Gambia	CAF	18	7	5	6	22	16	+6
Ghana	CAF	17	3	6	8	14	28	–14
Guinea	CAF	39	10	17	12	43	43	0
Guinea-Bissau	CAF	12	9	2	1	26	9	+17
Iran	AFC	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Côte d'Ivoire	CAF	26	2	8	16	17	47	–30
Japan	AFC	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Kenya	CAF	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2
Korea DPR	AFC	1	0	0	1	0	1	–1
Korea Republic	AFC	1	0	0	1	1	3	–2
Kuwait	AFC	3	0	0	3	4	10	–10
Liberia	CAF	10	5	3	2	19	11	+8
Libya	CAF	7	3	1	3	9	10	–1
Lithuania	UEFA	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
Madagascar	CAF	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Malawi	CAF	5	3	1	1	8	5	+3
Mauritania	CAF	30	18	7	5	60	23	+37
Morocco	CAF	19	5	6	8	12	31	–19
Mozambique	CAF	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1
Namibia	CAF	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2
Niger	CAF	8	5	2	1	10	4	+6
Nigeria	CAF	9	1	3	5	5	12	–7
Oman	AFC	2	0	1	1	1	2	–1
Qatar	AFC	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Rwanda	CAF	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1
Saudi Arabia	AFC	2	1	0	1	4	6	–2
Senegal	CAF	32	8	12	12	33	41	–8
Seychelles	CAF	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5
Sierra Leone	CAF	13	4	7	2	17	9	+8
South Africa	CAF	4	1	2	1	4	2	+2
South Sudan	CAF	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5
Sudan	CAF	4	2	1	1	7	4	+3
Togo	CAF	14	6	2	6	23	15	+8
Tunisia	CAF	8	4	0	4	8	8	0
Uganda	CAF	4	1	2	1	8	4	+4
United Arab Emirates	AFC	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Zambia	CAF	5	0	2	3	3	8	–5
Zimbabwe	CAF	6	2	1	3	4	5	–1