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Mali national football team facts for kids

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Mali
Shirt badge/Association crest
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 65 Decrease 1 (7 February 2019)
Highest 23 (June 2013)
Lowest 117 (October 2001)
Elo ranking
Current 74 Increase 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.

History

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.

Team kit

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

Results and fixtures

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

2022

2023

Coaching staff

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

Coaching history

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

Players

Current squad

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 29) 48 0 Tanzania Young Africans
1 1GK Ibrahim Mounkoro (1990-02-23) 23 February 1990 (age 34) 14 0 Democratic Republic of the Congo Mazembe
22 1GK Ismael Diawara (1994-11-11) 11 November 1994 (age 29) 5 0 Sweden Malmö FF

2 2DF Hamari Traoré (1992-01-27) 27 January 1992 (age 32) 44 1 France Rennes
17 2DF Falaye Sacko (1995-05-01) 1 May 1995 (age 28) 29 1 France Montpellier
15 2DF Mamadou Fofana (1998-01-21) 21 January 1998 (age 26) 28 2 France Amiens
5 2DF Boubakar Kouyaté (1997-04-15) 15 April 1997 (age 26) 23 0 France Metz
6 2DF Massadio Haïdara (1992-12-02) 2 December 1992 (age 31) 14 1 France Lens
3 2DF Amadou Dante (2000-10-07) 7 October 2000 (age 23) 2 0 Austria Sturm Graz
21 2DF Daouda Guindo (2002-10-14) 14 October 2002 (age 21) 0 0 Switzerland St. Gallen

4 3MF Amadou Haidara (1998-01-31) 31 January 1998 (age 26) 32 2 Germany RB Leipzig
11 3MF Lassana Coulibaly (1996-04-10) 10 April 1996 (age 27) 31 0 Italy Salernitana
8 3MF Diadie Samassékou (1996-01-11) 11 January 1996 (age 28) 30 1 Greece Olympiacos
18 3MF Cheick Doucouré (2000-01-08) 8 January 2000 (age 24) 8 0 England Crystal Palace
12 3MF Boubacar Traoré (2001-08-20) 20 August 2001 (age 22) 1 0 England Wolverhampton Wanderers
14 3MF Fady Sidiki Coulibaly (2002-01-27) 27 January 2002 (age 22) 0 0 Mali Djoliba AC

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

Recent call-ups

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 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt v.  South Sudan, 9 June 2022
DF Senou Coulibaly (1994-09-04) 4 September 1994 (age 29) 3 0 France Dijon v.  Tunisia, 29 March 2022
DF Cheick Traoré (1995-03-31) 31 March 1995 (age 28) 2 0 France Dijon v.  Tunisia, 29 March 2022
DF Issaka Samaké (1994-10-20) 20 October 1994 (age 29) 18 2 Guinea Horoya 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
DF Charles Traoré (1992-01-01) 1 January 1992 (age 32) 8 0 France Nantes 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
DF Moussa Sissako (2000-11-10) 10 November 2000 (age 23) 4 0 Russia Sochi 2021 Africa Cup of Nations

MF Yves Bissouma (1996-08-30) 30 August 1996 (age 27) 27 3 England Tottenham Hotspur v.  Zambia, 23 September 2022
MF Aliou Dieng (1997-10-16) 16 October 1997 (age 26) 25 2 Egypt Al Ahly v.  Zambia, 23 September 2022
MF Mohamed Camara (2000-01-06) 6 January 2000 (age 24) 12 3 Monaco Monaco v.  Zambia, 23 September 2022
MF Yaqoub Alhassan (2001-02-07) 7 February 2001 (age 23) 0 0 Saudi Arabia Al Taawoun Training camp, August 2022
MF Abdoulaye Doucouré (1993-01-01) 1 January 1993 (age 31) 2 0 England Everton v.  Tunisia, 29 March 2022
MF Adama Noss Traoré (1995-06-28) 28 June 1995 (age 28) 27 3 England Hull City 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
MF Rominigue Kouamé (1996-12-07) 7 December 1996 (age 27) 10 0 France Troyes 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
MF Hamidou Traoré (1996-10-07) 7 October 1996 (age 27) 1 0 Turkey Giresunspor 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
MF Kamory Doumbia (2003-02-18) 18 February 2003 (age 21) 0 0 France Stade de Reims v.  Zambia, 23 September 2022

FW Adama Malouda Traoré (1995-06-05) 5 June 1995 (age 28) 47 8 Hungary Ferencváros v.  Zambia, 23 September 2022
FW Moussa Djenepo (1998-06-15) 15 June 1998 (age 25) 29 3 England Southampton v.  Zambia, 23 September 2022
FW Moussa Doumbia (1994-08-15) 15 August 1994 (age 29) 36 5 France Sochaux v.  Tunisia, 29 March 2022
FW Abdoulay Diaby (1991-05-21) 21 May 1991 (age 32) 26 7 United Arab Emirates Al Jazira v.  Tunisia, 29 March 2022
FW Saliou Guindo (1996-09-12) 12 September 1996 (age 27) 1 0 United Arab Emirates Dibba Al Fujairah v.  Tunisia, 29 March 2022
FW Ibrahim Sissoko (1995-11-27) 27 November 1995 (age 28) 0 0 France Sochaux v.  Tunisia, 29 March 2022
FW Lassine Sinayoko (1999-12-08) 8 December 1999 (age 24) 5 0 France 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.

Records

Players in bold are still active with Mali.

Competition records

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
Sudan 1957 Part of  France Part of  France
Egypt 1959
Ethiopia 1962 Did not enter Did not enter
Ghana 1963
Tunisia 1965 Did not qualify Did not qualify
Ethiopia 1968
Sudan 1970
Cameroon 1972 Runners-up 2nd 5 1 3 1 11 11 Squad 4 3 1 0 7 2
Egypt 1974 Did not qualify 4 1 3 0 8 6
Ethiopia 1976 2 1 0 1 5 3
Ghana 1978 2 1 0 1 1 2
Nigeria 1980 Did not enter
Libya 1982 4 2 0 2 7 7
Ivory Coast 1984 4 2 0 2 5 6
Egypt 1986 4 1 2 1 4 9
Morocco 1988 Withdrew
Algeria 1990 6 2 3 1 8 7
Senegal 1992 6 0 3 3 2 7
Tunisia 1994 Fourth place 4th 5 2 0 3 4 8 Squad 6 3 1 2 8 7
South Africa 1996 Did not qualify 10 5 1 4 15 10
Burkina Faso 1998 6 3 0 3 9 9
Ghana Nigeria 2000 8 3 4 1 8 3
Mali 2002 Fourth place 4th 6 2 2 2 5 5 Squad Qualified as hosts
Tunisia 2004 Fourth place 4th 6 3 1 2 10 10 Squad 6 4 1 1 9 2
Egypt 2006 Did not qualify 12 4 2 6 15 15
Ghana 2008 Group stage 10th 3 1 1 1 1 3 Squad 6 3 3 0 10 1
Angola 2010 Group stage 9th 3 1 1 1 7 6 Squad 12 6 3 3 21 15
Gabon Equatorial Guinea 2012 Third place 3rd 6 3 1 2 6 5 Squad 6 3 1 2 9 6
South Africa 2013 Third place 3rd 6 2 2 2 7 8 Squad 2 2 0 0 7 1
Equatorial Guinea 2015 Group stage 10th 3 0 3 0 3 3 Squad 6 3 0 3 8 6
Gabon 2017 Group stage 12th 3 0 2 1 1 2 Squad 6 5 1 0 13 3
Egypt 2019 Round of 16 11th 4 2 1 1 6 3 Squad 6 4 2 0 10 2
Cameroon 2021 Round of 16 11th 4 2 2 0 4 1 Squad 6 4 1 1 10 4
Ivory Coast 2023 To be determined To be determined
Guinea 2025
Total Runners-up 12/33 54 19 19 16 65 65 136 65 32 38 199 133

African Nations Championship

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
Ivory Coast 2009 Did not qualify 2 0 2 0 0 0
Sudan 2011 Group stage 13th 3 0 1 2 1 3 2 1 1 0 3 1
South Africa 2014 Quarter-finals 8th 4 2 1 1 6 5 2 1 0 1 3 2
Rwanda 2016 Runners-up 2nd 6 3 2 1 6 6 4 2 2 0 7 4
Morocco 2018 Did not qualify 4 1 2 1 6 3
Cameroon 2020 Runners-up 2nd 6 2 3 1 3 3 4 3 1 0 9 0
Algeria 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

FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter Did not enter
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962
England 1966 Withdrew Withdrew
Mexico 1970 Did not enter Did not enter
West Germany 1974
Argentina 1978
Spain 1982
Mexico 1986
Italy 1990
United States 1994 Withdrew Withdrew
France 1998
South Korea Japan 2002 Did not qualify 2 1 0 1 3 4
Germany 2006 12 4 2 6 15 15
South Africa 2010 16 8 3 5 30 21
Brazil 2014 6 2 2 2 7 7
Russia 2018 8 1 4 3 4 10
Qatar 2022 8 5 2 1 11 1
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/22 0 0 0 0 0 0 52 21 13 18 70 58

African Games

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

Head-to-head record

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 AFC 2 1 0 1 3 5 –2
 Congo CAF 10 5 2 3 14 9 +5
 DR Congo 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
 Ivory Coast 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
 North Korea AFC 1 0 0 1 0 1 –1
 South Korea 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

Team honours

Last updated 14 August 2017

Continental tournaments

Runners-up (1): Silver medal africa.svg 1972
  • African Nations Championship
Runners-up (2): 2 2016, 2020

Other Tournaments and Cups

Amilcar Cabral Cup
Champions (3): 1989, 1997, 2007
Runners-up (4): –

See also

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