U-17 AFCON: Ivory Coast defeat Mali in a thriller to win Group D

Photo Credit: Ivorian Football Federation

Ivory Coast will join fellow 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations Group D side Mali at the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup after Les Éléphanteaux came out on top with a 4-2 result in an all-West African clash on Monday.

Golden Boot candidate Alynho Haïdara scored twice as the Ivorian team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. The young striker now has six goals in the competition after opening the scoring inside four minutes before converting a penalty kick in the 18th minute.

Haïdara then set up Moïse Diarrassouba for the third goal in the 41st minute against a Malian team that lacked focus at the start.

Les Aigles did respond just before halftime through Seydou Dembélé, who took advantage of a moment of weakness from the Ivorian defense to intercept a poor pass and finish past goalkeeper Christ Kouassi.

The Eaglets continued to show a new face after the halftime break and began to put immense pressure on the Ivorian defense. A clumsy challenge in the Ivorian penalty area led to a VAR review and penalty kick for Mali, which resulted in the third goal of the tournament for Ndjicoura Bomba who smashed in after Kouassi saved the spot kick from Dembélé.

However, in the end the poor start was too much for the Malians to overcome. Only moments after coming on as a substitute, Broulaye Cissé produced a stunning effort from distance in stoppage time to confirm victory and top spot in Group D for Les Éléphanteaux.

Both teams advance to the quarterfinals and their tickets are each booked to the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup following Monday's match.

Final Group D Table

	Points
Ivory Coast	7
Mali	6
Angola	4
Central African Republic	0

• The top two teams qualify for the quarterfinals and the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

• The four third place finishers from all groups qualify for a playoff, from which the two winning teams will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup.