Mali booked their place in the semi-finals of the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations after their 2-0 win over Niger in their final Group B game on Saturday night.
The Eagles were sitting in third spot before kick off while the Nigeriens were in second place on four points after drawing Egypt and defeating Gabon.
Their impressive maiden U-23 AFCON outing however came to an end after a Mamadou Sangare penalty and a Cheickna Doumbia 90th minute strike got the needed three points for Mali.
Egypt ???? Mali:
2-0 wins ✅#TotalEnergiesAFCONU23 results of the day are here ???? pic.twitter.com/TS0G0rfNrQ— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU23 ???? (@CAF_Online) July 2, 2023
Niger ended up in third ahead of Gabon who finished the group stage with no points after they lost 2-0 to defending U-23 AFCON champions Egypt in Tangier.
The Panthers were only playing for pride while the Pharaohs were targeting finishing in top spot which they did thanks to late strikes from Mahmoud Saber and Osama Faisal.
Almost there ????
The cup is two steps away ????#TotalEnergiesAFCONU23 pic.twitter.com/zVuQikxaAZ— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU23 ???? (@CAF_Online) July 2, 2023
The semi-finals will get to see Egypt take on Guinea while hosts Morocco tackle Mali, all four now virtually guaranteed of qualification for next year’s Olympics in Paris.
