The Mali national football team (Bambara: Mali jamana ntolatantɔn, ) represents Mali in men's international football and is governed by the Malian Football Federation. The team's nickname is Les Aigles. They represent the country at tournaments organized by 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 14 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.
In the AFCON of 2025 Mali defeated Tunisia on penalties, reaching the quarter finals against Senegal, without losing a single match in the whole tournament.
Team kit Manufacturer Period Kappa 1998–2003 Baliston2003–2007 Airness 2007–2026 WA 2026-2030
Rivalries
Tunisia
The rivalry between Mali and Tunisia has been evident in recent years in terms of the number of frequent matches, especially in the Africa Cup of Nations. The two teams met for the first time on 6 January 1974, during a friendly match in Bamako, which ended with a 1–0 victory for Mali. The match between the two teams in the 1994 African Cup of Nations, which was held in Tunisia, remains one of the biggest setbacks witnessed by the Tunisian national team, as Mali won the match 2–0, which led to Tunisia's early exclusion from the tournament that was held on its soil. In recent years, the team's matches have continued, as they met in the last three consecutive editions of the African Cup of Nations 2019, 2021 and 2023, all of which were in the group stage, where Mali won two matches and one ended in a draw. The two teams met in the third and final round of the 2022 World Cup qualification. Two round-robin matches were played. However, Tunisia qualified for the World Cup after winning the first leg in Bamako 1–0 with an own goal from defender Moussa Sissako, and a goalless draw prevailed in the return match in Radès. This was Mali's closest chance of qualifying for the World Cup. The competition record remains with Tunisia with a slight advantage. Tunisia won 6 matches, 3 of which ended in draws, and Mali won 5 matches.
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.
2025
2026
2027
Coaching staff
Position Name Head coach Anthony da Silva Assistant coach Alou Badra Diallo Goalkeeper coach Bounafou Doumbia Fitness coaches Riedoh Berdien Alexandre Coppolani Bougadary Sangare Team doctor Dr. Halidou Maiga Video analyst Gregory Verheyden Stephen Oonan International Scouts Alessandro Soli Robby Echelmeyer
Coaching history 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 (2022–2024) Tom Saintfiet (2024–2026) Anthony da Silva (2026–)
Players Current squad The following players were called up for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Cape Verde and Liberia on 25 and 29 September 2026, as well as the friendly against Morocco on 3 October 2026. Caps and goals correct as of 3 October 2026, after the match against Morocco.
Recent call-ups The following players have also been called up for Mali in the last twelve months.
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.
+Most appearancesRankPlayerCapsGoalsCareer 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 Djigui Diarra 74 0 2015–present 8 Mahamadou Diarra 73 7 1998–2012 9 Adama Traoré 61 9 2013–present 10 Hamari Traoré 60 3 2015–present
+Top goalscorersRankPlayerGoalsCapsRatioCareer 1 Seydou Keita 25 102 1998–2015 2 Frédéric Kanouté 23 39 2004–2010 3 Bassala Touré 17 95 1994–20084 Kamory Doumbia 15 29 2022–present Cheick Diabaté 15 38 2005–20166 Yaya Dissa 14 42 1995–2001 Soumaila Coulibaly 14 83 1995–2009 8 Ibrahima Koné 13 22 2017–present 9 Modibo Maïga 12 58 2007–2016 10 Salif Keïta 11 26 1964–1972
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup recordQualification recordYearResultPosition1930 to 1962Not a FIFA memberNot a FIFA member 1966WithdrewWithdrew1970 to 1990Did not enterDid not enter 1994WithdrewWithdrew 1998 2002Did not qualify210134 2006124261515 2010126332115 2014622277 20188143411 20228521111 202610532176 2030To be determinedTo be determined 2034Total000000582416187859
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 fourteen 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 recordQualification recordYearResultPositionSquad 1957Part of Part of 1959 1962Did not enterDid not enter 1963 1965Did not qualifyDid not qualify 1968 1970 1972Runners-up2nd51311111Squad431072 1974Did not qualify413086 1976210153 1978210112 1980Did not enter 1982420277 1984420256 1986412149 1988Withdrew 1990623187 1992603327 1994Fourth place4th520348Squad631287 1996Did not qualify105141510 1998630399 2000834183 2002Fourth place4th622255SquadQualified as hosts 200463121010Squad641192 2006Did not qualify124261515 2008Group stage10th311113Squad6330101 20109th311176Squad126332115 2012Third place3rd631265Squad631296 2013622278Squad220071 2015Group stage10th303033Squad630386 201712th302112Squad6510133 2019Round of 1611th421163Squad6420102 2021422041Squad6411104 2023Quarter-finals 7th 5 2 2 1 6 4 Squad 6 5 0 1 15 2 20258th504134 Squad 6 4 2 0 10 1 2027To be determinedTo be determined 2028TotalRunners-up14/35642125187473—146743438224136
African Nations Championship Mali has competed in five African Nations Championship tournaments, finishing as runners-up twice.
African Nations Championship recordQualification recordYearResultPosition 2009Did not qualify202000 2011Group stage13th301213211031 2014Quarter-finals8th421165210132 2016Runners-up2nd632166422074 2018Did not qualify412163 2020Runners-up2nd623133431090 2022Group stage15th201134220041TotalRunners-up5/72178619212010823211
African Games
African Games recordYearResult 1965Runners-up5311105 1973Did not qualify 1978Group stage302135 1987Did not qualify1991–presentSee Mali national under-23 football teamTotal2/483321310
Head-to-head record As of 4 October 2026 TeamConfederationPWDLGFGAGDCAF24102122236–14CAF412185+3CAF168712716+11CAF7601195+14CAF2113353620+16CAF602438–5CAF8422135+8CAF1010000CAF220042+2AFC210135–2CAF10523149+5CAF73131110+1CAF321060+6UEFA100112–1CAF10424880CAF330050+5CAF220070+7CAF220030+3CAF210143+1CAF122551016–6CAF187562216+6CAF1936101531–16CAF3910171243430CAF141031279+18AFC210123–1CAF2628161747–30AFC1010110AFC1010000CAF211042+2AFC100101–1AFC100113–2AFC3003410–10CAF116322011+9CAF7313910–1UEFA110031+2CAF321061+5CAF531185+3CAF3018756023+37CAF215881433–19CAF531164+2CAF421153+2CAF8521104+6CAF10235712–5AFC201112–1AFC1010000UEFA1010000CAF311132+1AFC210146–2CAF33812133342–9CAF220050+5CAF13472179+8CAF6222770CAF220050+5CAF421174+3CAF146262315+8CAF9414990CAF412184+4AFC1010000CAF603349–5CAF621345–1
Honours Continental Africa Cup of Nations Runners-up (1): 1972 Third place (2): 2012, 2013 African Nations Championship Runners-up (2): 2016, 2020 African Games1 Silver medal (1): 1965
Regional Amilcar Cabral Cup Champions (3): 1989, 1997, 2007 Runners-up (4): 1979, 1981, 1987, 1988 Third place (5): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 2001 UEMOA Tournament Runners-up (3): 2008, 2011, 2016
Summary Competition TotalCAF African Cup of Nations0 1 2 3CAF African Nations Championship0 2 0 2Total 0 3 2 5 Notes Competition organized by ANOCA, officially not recognized by FIFA.
References
External links
Mali FF (archived 28 January 2020) Mali Football Portal Mali at CAF Mali at FIFA