Mali will go head to head with Tunisia in the Fifa World Cup qualification third-round, first-leg match at the Stade du 26 Mars in Bamako on Friday. The Eagles reached this stage of the qualifiers after dominating group E which they won - recording five wins and one draw from six matches including a draw with Uganda in Entebbe.
They are coming into this match having been eliminated in the round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon as they lost to Equatorial Guinea on penalties. Mali have never qualified for the senior World Cup finals with a spot at the edition in Qatar up for grabs, but their head coach Malia Mohamed Magassouba is keen to change this.
The Malian tactician is confident of making history with the Eagles. So, altogether, we will continue the work since we are minutes from qualifying for the Qatar World Cup," Magassouba told the media.
Meanwhile, Tunisia progressed to the third round of qualifying after finishing at the top of group B - winning their last group game against Zambia in order to secure a spot in the next stage.
The Carthage Eagles were then inconsistent at the Africa Cup of Nations finals, but they managed to reach the quarterfinals where they were eliminated by Burkina Faso. The year-old tactician has had to explain his squad selection as he looks to guide the Carthage Eagles to their second successive World Cup qualification.
