Tunisia Claim Crucial Win Over Mali In First Leg Of World Cup Playoffs

Tunisia claimed a 1-0 victory over Mali in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification third-round, first-leg match at the Stade du 26 Mars in Bamako on Friday night.

Therefore, the Carthage Eagles will carry the 1-0 aggregate lead into the second-leg match in Tunisia on Tuesday and Mali's Eagles will be keen to overturn the deficit in order to qualify for the World Cup finals in Qatar.

The Carthage Eagles started the match brightly and they pressed the Eagles' defence which was forced to make mistakes in their own half, and this led to the only goal of the match.

Moussa Sissako scored an unfortunate own goal as his back pass beat goalkeeper Ibrahim Mounkoro to hand Tunisia a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute.

Things went from bad to worse for Mali as they were reduced to 10 players after Sissako was shown a straight red card in the 40th minute for denying the visitors a clear goal-scoring opportunity

Tunisia were leading 1-0 during the halftime break against Mali, who had endured a poor first half.

Despite being numerically disadvantaged the Eagles surged forward and Amadou Haidara cut inside from the right, and he unleashed a fierce shot that narrowly missed the target.

Jalel Kadri, the Tunisia head coach, decided to introduce striker Taha Yassine Khenissi in the 65th minute as the visitors looked to double their lead.

The momentum was with the Eagles in the latter stages of the game, but they couldn't penetrate the Carthage Eagles' tight defence and create clear-cut chances.

Mali couldn't seriously test keeper Bechir Ben Said as their shots were either blocked or they missed the target and ultimately, the game ended in a 1-0 win in favour of Tunisia.