Key events
Bissouma buys a foul on the far right touchline and Mali ought to send this deep into the box. Set-pieces may be their only hope now.
32 mins: Tunisia are upping the ante here. Mali, relying on counterattacks, will get little to no respite as the team in white dominate territory and possession. And most of it is going through that man Mejbri, who has been impressive so far.
Nearly half an hour gone and this has been chaos. At what point do you question the tactics from Tom Saintfiet and Mali?
Defending against this Tunisian side with 10 men will be tough. Very tough.
28 mins: A second red card in as many Afcon games for Mali. There is showing intent and being physically up for the challenge… but there is also a line you cannot cross.
VAR are reviewing this but it’s not going to be overturned.
RED CARD (W. Coulibaly)
Woyo Coulibaly is OFF!
It’s a very late tackle on the back of Mejbri’s ankle and the referee is quick to show the Mali right-back his marching orders. Oh dear.
Mali’s Woyo Coulibaly receives a rad card. Photograph: Themba Hadebe/AP
Tunisia’s Mohamed Belhadj Mahmoud is now booked. Not sure why. That was barely a foul.
22 mins: Hanniabl Mejbri, Sideshow Bob hairstyle and all, delivers a free-kick from the right and it causes chaos in the Mali box.
It was whipped in with speed by the Burnley man and Talbi rose highest, but couldn’t get enough contact on it and eventually Mali clear.
20 mins: When the game isn’t being paused for a foul, Tunisia are playing some lovely stuff. Valery and Ali Abdi have been stationed high and wide as full-backs and they’re seeing plenty of the ball, stretching Mali.
“We always knew this would be a physical contest,” says the Channel4 commentator… which is an understatement of massive proportions so far.
Goodness me, a third yellow card is shown… we haven’t even had 20 minutes yet. To be fair, Yves Bissouma did go quite high with his foot while tackling Valery, so the Mali midfielder does merit that booking.
15 mins: A wild and completely unnecessary punch from Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen almost works in his team’s favour, the ball flying downfield, flicked-on and nearly bringing about a one-v-one in the Malian half. Fortunately for Mali the offside flag was raised.
14 mins: Mali enjoy a spell of possession and it brings a corner, although Lassana Coulibaly is down with a knock.
12 mins: The first proper shot of the game is unleashed from the potent left foot of Ismael Gharbi, and whizzes just wide.
11 mins: Tunisia may be forced into an early change here. Bronn has gone down and stayed down under no pressure – a possible hamstring or muscle tweak perhaps as he landed.
Yep, he’s off. The experienced Yassine Meriah has replaced Bronn at centre-back.
8 mins: It’s very physical, very feisty, but also very stop-start so far in this last-16 encounter. So just what you’d expect – and want – from an Afcon knockout clash.
7 mins: A second yellow card is brandished by South African referee Abongile Tom, this one for Dylan Bronn of Tunisia for a cynical trip.
No messing about from the man in the middle.
5 mins: Tunisia are just moving the ball far too quickly for Mali to cope. Mejbri won a free-kick there, it was taken quickly and Mastouri was then lurking to convert the cross from the left, which was just about blocked.
3 mins: I’d suggest, even though it’s very early in this game, that Mali are going to have to do plenty of defending this evening.
Sami Trabelsi waves and points on the sidelines – the Tunisian boss must be happy with this start, as Mali’s Mahamadou Doumbia is booked already.
1 mins: Tunisia are quick out of the blocks, pressing high to win the ball and sending in a couple of crosses via Valery on the right. No time being wasted by them.
KICK OFF
Let’s go! We are under way in Casablanca.
Before we kick off, there’s enough time to me to bring this story to your attention. One regular day of Afcon etc etc …
Mali are in that unique situation of now being able to go all the way in a major tournament without actually winning in 90 minutes. Their Belgian head coach Tom Saintfiet has bags of Afcon experience – Google his CV! – and has turned them into a seriously tough nut to crack.
Mali have never triumphed at Afcon but they’ve enjoyed runs into the knockout stages at six of the past eight tournaments. An improving footballing nation.
Here’s our other current live football offering, with Bournemouth v Arsenal well-poised at the outset of the second half.
Barry Glendenning is your man for updates etc.
Senegal 3-1 Sudan: In the first of the last-16 ties earlier today, Senegal fought back after going 1-0 down early to breeze past Sudan, thanks to Pape Gueye scoring twice. Paris St-Germain teenager Ibrahim Mbaye was also on the scoresheet for the Senegalese, who await the winner of this game in the quarter-finals.
As for the rest of the last-16 lineup, here’s our handy guide to the games.
Let’s dive a bit deeper into those teams.
The big news from a Malian perspective is the absence of key midfielder Amadou Haidara, who is suspended after being sent off late in their goalless draw with Comoros for a dangerous tackle. Aliou Dieng comes in to partner Yves Bissouma in the engine room.
Tunisian fans were concerned about the fitness of Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane at the back after he appeared to pick up a knee injury in their defeat to Nigeria. And he has only been deemed fit enough to make the bench. Meanwhile the experienced Ferjani Sassi comes into the frontline, with Copenhagen’s Elias Achouri making way.
As well as Bissouma, other names familiar to UK viewers will be Tunisia’s right-back Yan Valery, now of Sheffield Wednesday and formerly Southampton, and Burnley’s volatile midfielder Hannibal Mejbri.
Team news
Mali: Diarra; W.Coulibaly, Diaby, O.Camara; Bissouma, Dieng; Sangare, L.Coulibaly, Doumbia; Sinayoko.
Subs: Diaware, H.Traoré, Dorgeles, Bilal Touré. Mo.Camara, Doucoure, Ma.Camara, Fofana, M.Doumbia, K.Doumbia, Samassa, Sissoko, Diakite, Gassama.
Tunisia: Dahmen; Valery, Talbi, Bronn, Abdi; Skhiri, Mejbri, Gharbi; Sassi, Mahmood, Mastouri.
Subs: Farhati, Meriah, Ben Romdhane, Achouri, Saad, Maaloul, Ben Ali, Ghandri, Chaouat, Ben Ounes, Ben Said, Sliti, Arous, Tounekti, Jaziri.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to another of our 2025 AFCON (now being played in 2026) minute-by-minute live blogs. We’re into a new year and a new phase of the tournament, as the last-16 begins. Well, it begun earlier on when Sengal played Sudan but Mali v Tunisia is the focus of this evening’s coverage.
Neither side ripped it up in the group stages, both finishing second in their respective groups with just one victory from their collective six games – that was a 3-1 win for Tunisia in their opener against Uganda. Having said that, Mali drew all three of their group games so the teams have only lost once between them too – Tunisia’s 3-2 reverse to Nigeria – one of the tournament favourites.
After so many drawn games we might expect another tight contest at Mohammed V Stadium tonight… but it’s AFCON so you never quite know. We’re building towards a 7pm kick-off (GMT), which is 8pm local time in Casablanca. Let’s go!
