Right, that’s it from me. Be sure to stick around on site for updates of the day’s other action, but from me, cheerio!
For Mali it means a first Afcon quarter-final in over a decade – not since 2013 in South Africa have they reached the last eight. A first final since 1972 isn’t out of the question though they will have to improve on this showing. The fitness of Amadou Haidara will be key, the RB Leipzig man having taken a couple of hefty whacks tonight.
No late redemption for Burkina Faso this time around, and they can have few complaints really. Mali were hardly exceptional but the Stallions were still second best for the vast majority and couldn’t build a head of steam in those final exchanges.
Full-time: Mali 2-1 Burkina Faso
Peep! PEEP!! PEEEEEEP!!! All over. Mali survive with little fuss in the end and go through to the last eight, where they will face the hosts Ivory Coasts.
90+8 min: Konate goes down on the edge of the box but nothing doing from the referee. The TV commentary is getting a bit ripe: “The grim reaper is set to harvest again and it looks likely to be Stallions on the menu.”
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90+7 min: Badolo hoists the ball into the Mali box but no one in green can get on the end of it. That might be just about it.
90+6 min: … Ki Aziz overhits the corner and a few more seconds tick away.
90+5 min: … launched in, and flicked away for a corner …
90+4 min: Another chance for Burkina Faso to load up the box from a set-piece …
90+3 min: Fofana and Wolves’ Boubacar Traore replace Sinayoko and Camara for Mali, who have just five more minutes to survive.
90+2 min: Koita has the chance to sew it up but a poor touch in the box means the chance goes and Mali can’t relax just yet.
90+1 min: Eight minutes of added time to play.
90 min: It’s in! But it’s offide! Dayo nods the free-kick home from close range but the centre-half had just made his move too early and the celebrations stop before they have started.
89 min: Ouattara is brought down by Camara to give Burkina Faso a free-kick and the chance to pile forward …
87 min: Sangare is replaced by Stephane Aziz Ki for Burkina Faso. One last roll of the dice.
86 min: Camara looks to fire up the Mali supporters clustered in the stands at halfway. They’ve been loud throughout though the nerves may just be affecting the decibel levels at this point.
85 min: Corner to Mali. Smuggled away by Burkina Faso.
82 min: Burkina Faso are going to require a bit of the late drama that characterised their group stage. Mali have wrestled a bit of control back now after looking a little flustered for a while.
80 min: A tired Sinayoko gives away a needless foul, then collapses to the turf slightly embarrassingly after a light shove from Edmond Tapsoba. Yellows all round.
78 min: There’s not really been much football played in the last 10 minutes. Just a succession of free-kicks and physio interventions. That’ll suit Mali, who have a lead to protect, but the stoppage time is really beginning to add up.
76 min: Burkina Faso captain Bertrand Traoré is also off, and it’s an all-Premier League change, with Bournemouth’s Djibril Ouattara on to replace him.
75 min: It’s Sinayoko’s turn to receive treatment after a heavy landing.
73 min: Three changes for Mali as they look to re-establish control: Diabate, Koita and Samassekou replace the in-the-wars Haidara, Adama Traoré, and Coulibaly.
71 min: Haidara is going to continue. Meanwhile Badolo goes into the book after a slightly wild lunge as the ball broke loose in the Mali area.
70 min: Haidara goes down again after a spectacular clearance and looks to be struggling after that clash of heads. A bit more treatment required.
67 min: Bansé replaces Ouedraogo in the Burkina Faso midfield.
66 min: A nasty clash of heads between the stars of each team – Bertrand Traoré and Haidara. There’ll be a bit of a break for some treatment.
64 min: Doumbia again threatens down the middle and this time is able to get a shot away, though straight into the hands of Koffi.
62 min: Doumbia is dragged down by Ouédraogo as again he looks to skitter through. The free-kick is launched into the stands in slightly hapless fashion. Mali look a touch rattled.
60 min: The noise level in the stadium has cranked up a notch or two – certainly it seems Burkina Faso fans outnumber their Malian counterparts.
58 min: The Mali bench looked deeply unimpressed with that decision but it was pretty clear on the replay. That’s only the second goal the Eagles have conceded in more than five hours of football at this tournament.
GOAL! Mali 2-1 Burkina Faso (B Traoré 57)
The Aston Villa man calmly sidefoots to the goalkeeper’s right, sending Diarra the wrong way. Burkina Faso are back in it!
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Penalty to Burkina Faso!
In that scramble, Kouyate has handballed as Konate looked to head at goal. VAR intervenes and Burkina Faso have a lifeline …
53 min: Diarra goes full length to punch the ball away from the lurking Konate as Burkina Faso attack once more.
52 min: I think we can expect a pretty conservative approach from Mali from this point. Burkina Faso have given very little suggestion of breaking them down thus far.
49 min: Konate leaps high and nods a yard or so wide from around the penalty spot as Burkina Faso try to hit back.
48 min: Burkina Faso made changes at half-time – Nagalo and Badolo replacing Yago and Abdoul Tapsoba. But they have a mountain to climb now.
GOAL! Mali 2-0 Burkina Faso (Sinayoko 47)
It’s a repeat! Three minutes into the first half, barely 60 into the second. Mali have scored again and it’s Sinayoko springing the offside trap and slotting home through the goalkeeper’s legs.
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Peep! Off we go again. Burkina Faso have 45 minutes to keep themselves in the tournament.
Peep! PEEEEP!! That’s half-time. Tapsoba’s early goal separates the sides at the break.
45+5 min: … and, predictably, blazed miserably over the bar.
45+4 min: Tapsoba brings down Doumbia, right in the centre of the pitch, perhaps 35 yards from goal …
45+2 min: Another Mali free-kick – that’s the 21st foul of this incredibly stop-start first half.
45 min: Four minutes of added time to play.
43 min: Haidara again lets fly, this time from 30 yards or more. It’s high and wide.
42 min: … zipped in but headed away.
41 min: Bertrand Traoré has the bit between his teeth since almost gifting Mali a second. He wins a free-kick on the right of the Mali box and is lining up to take it …
39 min: Hamari Traoré gets forward on a rare foray down the Mali right but the full-back sees his cross blocked.
37 min: The Stallions finally break out, through Traoré. Konate and Kabore combine to find Tapsoba, who spectacularly heads over. Again the offside flag goes up but that was slightly more promising for the underdogs.
34 min: Bertrand Traoré criminally gives the ball away on the edge of his own area but Doumbia slams his shot straight at Koffi. Seconds later Sinayoko squares low across the six-yard box with no teammate gambling. Burkina Faso are on the ropes here.
32 min: Back under way and Burkina Faso are snoozing. Doumbia jinks his way into a yard of space on the edge of the box and flashes a shot just wide. That was a let-off for the Stallions.
30 min: Cooling break time and Burkina Faso have some work to do.
28 min: Haidara slams an effort wide on the rebound, after Koffi beat away the impressive Sinayoko’s half volley.
26 min: Yellow card: Abdoul Tapsoba goes into the book after catching Haidara with an arm. A pretty soft booking but there have been a stack of petty fouls with which the referee is perhaps running out of patience.
25 min: There’s a VAR check as Mali look for a penalty but an offside flag puts pay to their hopes.
23 min: Huge chance for Mali! Sinayoko breaches the offside trap and a quick one-two puts Doumbia in. His low effort is well blocked by Koffi, when he really should’ve done better. The offside flag goes up to spare his blushes.
21 min: … Traoré’s low shot bobbles its way on target but it’s comfortable for Diarra.
19 min: Kabore heaves the ball into the Mali box but his cross is headed clear. If I was a Burkina Faso supporter I’d be a touch worried about their lack of creativity. They don’t really look to have much of a plan to break down this iron-clad Mali defence. They do have a set-piece though, 40-odd yards from goal …
17 min: Sinayoko ponders a shot from distance but opts against and Mali instead look to pass their way through. It comes to nought, but the Eagles have just grabbed a bit of control now.
16 min: Pass, pass, pass from Mali, as the game settles down for the first time and takes a breath.
13 min: Amadou Haidara in the centre of Mali’s midfield already looks the class act on the pitch. He feeds Adama Traoré, who lets fly from 25 yards, zipping his effort a few yards over the bar.
11 min: … it’s a decent ball in, Diarra is again in no man’s land but Dayo can’t quite get over the ball.
10 min: Yago storms down the Burkina Faso left and earns his side a corner …
8 min: It has been a frantic start. Definitely a few nerves on either side.
6 min: Chaos in the Mali area as Traoré swings in a free-kick from the right and Djigui Diarra fumbles an attempted claim. Brief hope for Burkina Faso, but the referee’s whistle goes for a slightly generous foul on the keeper.
5 min: A really odd goal that. Tapsoba seemed to be trying to cushion the ball back to his keeper, or perhaps trying to push it wide? Either way, the Leverkusen man got it all horribly wrong.
GOAL! Mali 1-0 Burkina Faso (Tapsoba 3 OG)
That didn’t take long! No messing about at the back from Mali. Niakaté launches a free-kick forward from deep and Mali are on the front foot. The ball is swung in from the right, Haidara thunders a header against a post and from the rebound Edmond Tapsoba loops the ball back past his own goalkeeper.
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Peep! Off we go then.
The players are in the tunnel …
Geography and history
This is a very much a derby: Mali and Burkina Faso share a border – 1,325km of border in fact (so roughly eight times that of England and Scotland) – in the Sahel. They’ve not always been easy neighbours, a brief war breaking out in 1985, but are much closer these days and there was talk last year of the pair, along with Niger, forming a new political and monetary entity.
And providence has delivered a fitting venue for this clash. Korhogo and the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium sit in slap-bang in the middle of northern Ivory Coast, barely 100km from the borders of both Mali and Burkina Faso.
Route to the last 16
Mali topped Group E without really shining – a 2-0 win over South Africa was followed by a 1-1 draw with Tunisia and a 0-0 with Namibia – though a defensive record of just one goal conceded thus far is enviable. Burkina Faso’s tournament, meanwhile, has been marked by late drama – a 96th-minute winner in their opener against Mauritania, a 95th-minute equaliser for Algeria in their 2-2 draw, and even a 92nd-minute goal for Angola in a 2-0 defeat in the final group fixture.
The teams
Mali (4-4-2): D Diarra; H Traoré, Kouyate, Niakaté, Sacko; Camara, Coulibaly, Haidara, A Traoré; Sinayoko, Doumbia.
Burkina Faso (4-3-3): Koffi; Kabore, Dayo, E Tapsoba, Yago; Ouédraogo, Sangare, Touré; B Traoré, Konate, AF Tapsoba.
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Preamble
Hello all and welcome to live coverage of match 43 in this fascinating edition of Afcon. All of a sudden the tournament feels like it has opened up for this pair. The exits of Senegal and Egypt from this half of the draw has given the route to the final a tantalising air. The winners here face the hosts Ivory Coast – who were abject in the group but so gutsy in beating Senegal on Monday – with either DR Congo or Guinea awaiting in the semi-finals. It really does feel like this is anyone’s tournament now.
So could it be the year that one of these two write their name on the trophy for the first time? Burkina Faso have a fine recent Afcon record, reaching three semi-finals in the past five editions. Mali, on the other hand, haven’t been that deep in the competition since 2013. Neither side really shone in the group stage but as Ivory Coast showed on Monday, it’s worth expecting the unexpected.
Kick off is at 5pm GMT.
