![\"Senegal's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AFP__20260109__928D9MR__v2__MidRes__TopshotFblAfr2025Match45MliSen-1767983766.jpg\")
Senegal\u2019s forward Iliman Ndiaye celebrates scoring his team\u2019s first goal in the nets of Mali\u2019s goalkeeper Djigui Diarra during the Africa Cup of Nations [Abdel Majid Bziouat\/AFP]<\/p>\nSenegal beat Mali 1-0 to reach AFCON 2025 semifinal where defending champions Ivory Coast or record winners Egypt await.<\/p>\n
Recalled striker Iliman Ndiaye scored in the first half to give Senegal a 1-0 victory over 10-man Mali in Tangiers on Friday in the first 2025 Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal.<\/p>\n
Mali hopes were dealt a severe blow in first-half added time when Yves Bissouma was sent off after being shown a second yellow card.<\/p>\n
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The only goal followed a blunder by Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra, who then made a string of superb saves to prevent Senegal increasing their lead.<\/p>\n
Senegal now face defending champions Ivory Coast or record seven-time winners Egypt, who meet on Saturday, in the semifinals.<\/p>\n
Malian Lassine Sinayoko appealed for a penalty just three minutes into the first half, alleging he was fouled by Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly, who was back after a one-match suspension.<\/p>\n
However, the South African referee waved play on, and VAR confirmed his decision was correct. Big-screen replays showed Sinayoko was guilty of simulation.<\/p>\n
Mali captain Bissouma was yellow-carded midway through the half for fouling veteran Senegal striker and twice African player of the year Sadio Mane.<\/p>\n
Sinayoko then broke clear only to be foiled by a superb sliding tackle from fellow French Ligue 1 player Krepin Diatta.<\/p>\n
The deadlock was broken after 27 minutes on a cold, cloudy evening in the Mediterranean city thanks to Ndiaye.<\/p>\n
He was involved three times in a move which ended with goalkeeper Djigui Diarra allowing a Krepin Diarra cross to slip under his body, and Ndiaye struck the loose ball into the net.<\/p>\n
Senegal\u2019s forward Iliman Ndiaye celebrates scoring his team\u2019s first goal in the nets of Mali\u2019s goalkeeper Djigui Diarra during the Africa Cup of Nations [Abdel Majid Bziouat\/AFP]<\/p>\n
While the goal was a gift, it gave Senegal a deserved lead as they had dominated possession in only the second AFCON clash between the countries. The first was drawn at the group stage in 2004.<\/p>\n
Pape Gueye, who scored twice for Senegal in the last-16 victory over Sudan, was just off target with a shot from outside the box.<\/p>\n
Then, for the second successive knockout match, Mali were reduced to 10 men before half-time with Bissouma shown a second yellow card, followed by a red.<\/p>\n
The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder fouled Idrissa Gueye in midfield, and Malian pleas for the incident to be reviewed by VAR were rejected.<\/p>\n
Mali displayed tremendous spirit when reduced to 10 men against Tunisia in the round of 16, and it was evident again against the Senegalese as the second half progressed.<\/p>\n
They came close to levelling on 55 minutes when defender Abdoulaye Diaby advanced for a free-kick. His close-range shot brought a reflex save from former Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.<\/p>\n
Diarra atoned for his first-half blunder by making several superb saves to keep alive Malian dreams of winning a maiden AFCON title.<\/p>\n
With 15 minutes of regular time remaining, scorer Ndiaye was substituted. In his place came 17-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward Ibrahim Mbaye, whose goal sealed victory over Sudan.<\/p>\n
Diarra rescued Mali again as time ticked away, blocking a shot from substitute Pathe Ciss, who had broken clear.<\/p>\n
The Malian goalkeeper made another outstanding save during seven minutes of added time by pushing away a Lamine Camara volley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Senegal beat Mali 1-0 to reach AFCON 2025 semifinal where defending champions Ivory Coast or record winners Egypt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[63,146,311,965,96,159,310],"class_list":{"0":"post-13867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-africa-cup-of-nations","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-mali","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-senegal","14":"tag-sport"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}