Kamory Doumbia of Mali celebrates goal with teammates during the 2026 World Cup Qualifier football match between Mali and Comoros at Stade Municipal de Berkane in Berkane, Morocco on 4 September 2025 ©Abd el kader Cherradi/BackpagePix
Sunday Dec 21, 2025. 11:00
Mali will be targeting nothing but a win when they face Zambia in their opening match at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals on Monday.
Kick-off is at 4:00 pm CAT.
The Group A match is scheduled to be played at the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca, which is the largest city in Morocco and the country’s economic and business centre.
The Eagles are undefeated in their last three matches across all competitions, having drawn 0-0 with Jordan in an international friendly match on December 18.
Boasting players such as Yves Bissouma, El Bilal Touré and Hamari Traoré, Mali, who finished second in the 1972 AFCON edition, are the favourites coming into their clash with Zambia.
“For me probably the most difficult games in our group are the ones against Zambia and Comoros, and we need to be very focused,” Tom Saintfiet, the Mali head coach, told ZNBC’s Radio 4 Sports Programme.
“Zambia is always at AFCON, always a strong team at AFCON. It’s never easy to play against them. They have a lot of good-quality players who can play together as a team, and for sure, because it’s the opening match, you need to be very focused because both teams would want to make a good start.”
Meanwhile, Zambia extended their winless run to four matches across all competitions when they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to DR Congo in a friendly match on December 16.
Chipolopolo will pin their hopes of defeating Mali on Fashion Sakala, Patson Daka, and Lubambo Musonda, as they bid to go all the way, and win AFCON for the second time, following their 2012 triumph.
“We are actually motivated to play the so-called big teams. These are the games every player wants to be part of,” Lameck Banda, the Zambia winger, said.
“Obviously, last time we did not do well, but we now have a chance to utilise the knowledge we gathered and do better at this year’s Africa’s biggest football bonanza.”
In the Head-To-Head record, Mali and Zambia have met six times across all competitions since their first-ever meeting in April 1994.
The last meeting between the two teams ended in a 1-0 win in favour of the Eagles in a friendly match in September 2022 in Bamako, Mali.
Referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who hails from Somalia, will be in charge of the game between Mali and Zambia.