Mali, Cabo Verde in do or die encounter
There will be no margin for error when Mali take on Cabo Verde in a must-win Group D encounter at the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2026 in Morocco.
Familiar foes since the qualifiers to this WAFCON edition, both sides have tasted victory on away soil with Mali winning the first leg 1-0 in Praia before Cabo Verde turned the tables to win 4-2 in Bamako and eventually 4-3 on aggregate. A combination of seven goals.
With that victory, the island nation qualified for their first ever WAFCON. However, Mali are at the continental showpiece after CAF expanded the number of teams from 12 to 16 thanks to the latter being among the top four ranked teams not to have qualified for the tournament.
This context is not lost on Sunday’s showdown at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca.
Lessons from the past for Mali
If the WAFCON 2026 has sent any clear message, it is that impossible is nothing. Every match day has come with thrilling end-to-end action with fans watching every game on the edge of their seats.
“This is a very important game for us. If we want to continue in this competition, we have to get a positive result in this match [against Cabo Verde]. We still have a competitive spirit within the team. We believe we can turn our campaign around,” a confident looking Birama Konaté said during the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
This will be the seventh time that Mali are facing tournament debutants at the WAFCON with their record in the previous six matches reading - three wins, one draw and two defeats.
Regardless, Malian defender Coulouba Sogoré who features for AJ Auxerre in France since 2019, is confident that the team has what it takes to record a positive result on Sunday.
“We want to impose our style of football. We want to be able to get something from this match. We want to make a couple of changes to the way we played our first game against Cameroon as well as when we faced Cabo Verde in the qualification round. We want to see more transition in the way that we move the ball,” Sogoré explained in detail.
Cabo Verde in search of fire power
Since scoring four goals past Mali to qualify for this WAFCON, Cabo Verde have failed to win their last five games, recording one draw and four defeats and they have failed to score in all five of those matches.
But head coach Silvéria Nédio believes that these results are part of the learning journey for her team who are competing on the highest stage for the very first time.
She said, “We want to give our best. We need to win. We are better prepared. It is a very important match for us to win. We shall believe in our tactics and try to get the maximum points. There is a lot at stake for our country. We have to stay strong, focused, have a good attitude and with a positive mindset so that we can achieve our goal.”
Eveline Pereira, who missed the first game because of amassing two yellow cards, added that,”Mali is a team that we know already. It will be a difficult game. We want to win and continue but we need to play very hard. I believe we are all prepared. I am ready now to do my best and to make my country proud. If we want something then we have to fight for it.”
With the two teams both looking for their first victory at the tournament, Cabo Verde’s Sylviane Gomes and Mali’s Yakaré Niakaté who are teammates at French club OGC Nice will find themselves on opposite sides of this battle.
The Stat of the Day
Mali have never kept a clean sheet against tournament debutants, conceding in all six previous matches while Cabo Verde managed one shot on target in their WAFCON opener against Ghana - attempted by Sandra Martins.
