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The Africa Cup of Nations continues next week and will see Tunisia face Mali at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium on Wednesday afternoon in their opening game of Group F.
Tunisia cruised to their 15th consecutive and 20th appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations as they picked up five wins and a draw in their six qualifying games. They were beaten 1-0 by Senegal in the semifinals of the last edition of the competition before losing to Nigeria by the same scoreline in the third-place game.
Tunisia will be looking to begin their campaign with a win on Wednesday as they seek a first continental title since 2004.
Mali have also been regulars in the Africa Cup of Nations in recent years as they have now qualified for eight consecutive tournaments. They were beaten 1-0 by Cote d'Ivoire in the round of 16 of the last AFCON and will be hoping for better luck this time around.
The Eagles' best result in the competition was runner-up in their debut appearance in the continental cup back in 1972. They will now be looking to replicate that effort and even go a step further this year.
Tunisia vs Mali Head-to-Head
There have been 11 meetings between the two sides. Tunisia have won six of those games while Mali have won two fewer. There has been just one draw between the two teams.
The two sides last met officially in the group stage of the tournament back in 2019. The game ended 1-1, with both sides ultimately going through to the next stage.
Tunisia Form Guide (All Competitions): L-W-W-W-L
Mali Form Guide (All Competitions): L-W-W-W-W
Tunisia vs Mali Team News
Tunisia
Ellyes Skhiri picked up an injury while in action for Koln early last month. However, the defensive midfielder has recovered and is expected to feature for his nation later this week.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Mali
There are no injured or suspended players for the Malians ahead of Wednesday's game.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Tunisia vs Mali Predicted XI
Tunisia Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Farouk Ben Mustapha; Mohamed Drager, Montassar Talbi, Dylan Bronn, Ali Maaloul; Anis Ben Slimane, Ellyes Skhiri; Naim Sliti, Hannibal Mejbri, Youssef Msakni; Wahbi Khazri
Mali Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Ibrahim Mounkoro; Hamari Traore, Boubakar Kouyate, Senou Coulibaly, Charles Traore; Mohamed Camara, Yves Bissouma; Moussa Djenepo, Amadou Haidara, Adama Traore; Kalifa Coulibaly
Tunisia vs Mali Prediction
Tunisia are the fourth-highest-ranked African nation in the FIFA rankings and are the clear favorites in the midweek game. They have been knocked out of the group stages just once in the last five editions of the AFCON and will be targeting a statement opener.
Mali are one of the fastest rising African football nations and are quite easily Tunisia's toughest opponents in the group. They go into Wednesday's game with five wins and a draw in their last seven games but we expect them to see defeat against the Tunisians.
Prediction: Tunisia 2-1 Mali
