- Saturday, January 3, 2026
- Tunisia vs Mali
- Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca – 8:00 p.m. Local Time (10:00 p.m. EAT)
Mali head coach Tom Saintfiet believes his side’s defence will be key against Tunisia in the round of 16 showdown at the Mohamed V stadium, Casablanca, on Saturday.
The Eagles of Mali qualified for this stage without winning a game, having drawn three matches in Group A, in which they conceded only one goal.
On the other hand, Tunisia scored in every group game, beating Uganda 3-1, drawing 1-1 with Tanzania and scoring twice against Nigeria despite a 3-2 defeat.
“Tunisia are one of those dangerous sides, and we have already talked about that. They have a very good forward line, if not checked can be dangerous, but we are not worried about that because we have good quality players who can stop them,” said Saintfiet at Mohammed V in Casablanca.
“We have good defenders, we have a good goalkeeper, we conceded one goal during the AFCON qualifiers for Morocco in six games, and during the World Cup qualification campaign, in six matches, we only conceded two goals.
“So, we are a good side, because if you look at the previous statistics as mentioned above, we have been very solid defensively. We know Tunisia will not be easy but we are ready for the task.”
For Sami Trabelsi, the head coach of Tunisia, he admits his side has not been so efficient and needs to be at their best against the Malians.
“We know we haven’t given our fans enough but qualifying was the most important thing and now we can focus on producing our best level against Mali,” he added.
He added: “It is true we have conceded a lot of goals, we did not manage to lock key areas during the group stage, it is something we have worked on, and rectified during the two-day break, we don’t want to be conceding goals, and the players know it.”
Key Stats
- Mali and Tunisia have met four times previously at AFCON, with Mali remaining unbeaten (W2 D2).
- However, this will be their first knockout-stage meeting, as all four previous AFCON clashes have taken place in the group stages.
- They will be meeting at a fourth successive AFCON tournament, having faced each other in 2019, 2021 and 2023, after first meeting at the finals in 1994.
- If Mali secure victory, it would take them to the quarterfinals for a seventh time after 1994, 2002, 2004, 2012, 2013, and 2023.
In the other match on Saturday, Sudan and Senegal lock horns in Tangier.