With 10 players on the field, Mali prevailed over Tunisia 3-2 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in their AFCON 2025 round of 16 match. The game went to penalties thanks to a goal by El Bilal Toure.
Vibrant play resumed in the last minutes of the second half as Tunisia took the lead and Mali equalized on a penalty kick that had been granted after a video assistant referee review.
Woyo Coulibaly’s sending-off after a violent tackle on Hannibal Mejbri reduced Mali to 10 men, but Tunisia failed to capitalize on their numerical advantage, and the teams headed into halftime tied.
Firas Chaouat finally broke the deadlock for Tunisia in the 88th minute, after the visitors had stepped up their game in the second half. He ducked below Mali’s defense to head in a cross from Elias Saad.
But the Eagles’ War wasn’t over yet; Mali scored a penalty after a long video assistant referee assessment of a free kick by Yassine Meriah found him to have handballed the ball.
Six minutes into the extra period, Lassine Sinayoko sent the game into overtime with a goal that almost escaped the goalkeeper’s grasp.
After a goal by the Tunisian Carthage Eagles was rightly disallowed due to offside, the match went to penalties, where Mali prevailed after Tunisia missed all three of their efforts. Toure scored the winning kick, sending Mali into the quarterfinals.
Tom Saintfiet’s Mali squad has played four draws thus far in Morocco and will face Senegal in the quarterfinals. They are making history by advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2013. However, they have failed to win in regulation time at AFCON 2025.
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