The 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)

Mali take on Africa Cup of Nations hosts Ivory Coast at Stade de la Paix on Saturday, keen to progress from the quarter-finals

Mali took a huge stride towards realising their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) ambitions by defeating neighbours Burkina Faso 2-1 in the Round of 16. That set up not only this exciting quarter-final clash against the host nation Ivory Coast, but it also ended a run of three successive AFCON tournaments in which they exited at the Round of 16 stage. They’ll now be hoping to take the next step on the road to their first AFCON final since 1972 and will be full of confidence that they can advance to the last four after another robust defensive showing on Tuesday night meant they conceded just two goals from their four games in the tournament so far (W2, D2). Mali have also kept clean sheets in two of their last four meetings with their opponents, but no win in that period will be a concern (D2, L2). Ivory Coast booked their place in the quarter-finals after coming out victorious following a nail-biting penalty shootout win over reigning AFCON champions Senegal (1-1). It’s just what the home nation needed after a rather uninspiring campaign in which their opening round 2-0 win against Guinea-Bissau is their only regulation time victory at this year’s tournament (D1, L2). This poor showing cost the previous manager Jean-Louis Gasset his job, with Emerse Faé being appointed the new interim boss ahead of that tight win against Senegal. Faé, who played 41 times for the Elephants, admitted he felt great “pressure” taking on the job at short notice, and that tension will only intensify as he’s tasked next with trying to guide Ivory Coast to their first AFCON semi-final since winning the tournament in 2015. But with their two defeats in the group stage against Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria proving their only losses from their past ten internationals, Faé might hope it won’t take much to get his side back to their best.