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Ten-man Mali rode their luck to beat Tunisia 3–2 on penalties and reach the quarter-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
El Bilal Touré netted the decisive spot-kick after Ali Abdi blazed over the bar, while Eagles goalkeeper Djigui Diarra saved Tunisia’s fourth and fifth penalties from Elias Achouri and Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane.
After a match that contained little action until the closing stages, the shootout was full of drama as Mali captain Yves Bissouma fired over and team-mate Nene Dorgeles struck the post, reports the BBC.
The West Africans played with a numerical disadvantage for more than 90 minutes after Woyo Coulibaly was shown a straight red card for catching Hannibal Mejbri on the Achilles with his studs.
Tunisia went ahead with two minutes of regulation time remaining when Firas Chaouat’s header crept inside the right-hand post. However, Mali were awarded a stoppage-time penalty after Yassine Meriah was penalised for handball.
Lassine Sinayoko’s low spot-kick had just enough power to beat Carthage Eagles goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen—who got a hand to the ball—and force the match into extra time.
Chaouat thought he had doubled Tunisia’s lead early in the second period of extra time, but the effort was ruled out for offside against team-mate Abdi. The game eventually drifted towards a penalty shootout.
Mali will now travel north to Tangier to face 2021 champions Senegal, who beat Sudan earlier, in the last eight on Friday.
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