Mali and Eswatini will draw the curtain on their respective Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaigns with a meeting at Stade du 26 Mars on Tuesday evening.
The home side need just a point from this one to confirm their place as winners of Group I, while the away side will need to come out on top to stand any chance of avoiding finishing bottom of the group.
Match preview
© Imago
Having featured in each of the last nine Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, Mali have established themselves as regulars at this level and got their qualifying journey underway with a 1-1 stalemate against Mozambique.
Tom Saintfiet's men claimed a pair of 1-0 victories over Eswatini and Guinea-Bissau in their subsequent two involvements to take control of their fate midway through the qualifiers before playing out a goalless draw against Guinea-Bissau in the second of last month's double header.
Needing a win from their fifth qualifying clash to complete the job, Mali just about managed to claim a 1-0 victory over Mozambique in Friday's meeting at Estadio do Zimpeto where Kamory Doumbia's opener proved to be the all-important moment.
As a result, Mali now outrightly lead the way in Group I with 11 points on the board, three points clear of Mozambique, and nine in front of Eswatini heading into their final encounter in Bamako.
Since their AFCON quarter-final exit to Ivory Coast in early February, Tuesday's hosts are unbeaten in eight of their nine matches across all competitions and will now seek to close out 2024 on a winning note.
Still awaiting their first win of the qualifying round of matches, Eswatini took on the Wild Dogs of Guinea-Bissau at the Mbombela Stadium in Friday's meeting which ended in a share of the spoils after a 1-1 stalemate.
Zdravko Logarusic's men took the lead nine minutes from time through Lindo Mkhonta's rebound from his missed penalty and looked set to come away with all three points before Carlos Mane restored parity in the 87th minutes.
Albeit with no significant consequence, those dropped points last time out mean that Eswatini are one of eight teams still yet to claim an AFCON qualifying victory heading into the final round of matches.
Sihlangu Semnikati have since been ruled out of contention for a place in Morocco next year, meaning that their wait for a first AFCON appearance in history will have to wait for another two years at least.
Nonetheless, Tuesday's visitors could really do with a return to winning ways in their final involvement of the year before they resume World Cup qualifying duty against Cameroon and Mauritius in March's international break.
Team News
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Twenty-one-year-old Kamory Doumbia continues to deliver the goods for Mali after scoring his eighth goal in 15 international matches against Mozambique.
Djigui Diarra recorded cap number 65 in the aforementioned game and continues to gradually work his way up in the hosts' all-time appearances charts.
Lindo Mkhonta could make a return to the starting lineup for this one after coming off the bench to good effect in Eswatini's draw against Guinea-Bissau.
Xolani Gama had arguably his best game for the visitors last time out where he made a host of saves to earn his side a point, and the goalkeeper will need to be on song in Tuesday's clash.
Mali possible starting lineup:
Diarra; Dante, Fofana, Diaby, Doucoure; Dieng, Camara; Dorgeles, Bissouma, Doumbia; Toure
Eswatini possible starting lineup:
Gama; Sibandze, Quiton, Ndaba, Mamba; Dlamini, Ngwenya, Thwala, Matsebula; Ndzinisa, Magagula
We say: Mali 3-0 Eswatini
Mali can afford to take their foot off the gas here, but a chance to conclude their qualifying campaign with a win on home turf should see them up for the challenge.
We are fully backing the home side to cruise to a routine victory come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
