Super Eagles suffer 2-0 defeat to Mali in friendly game

The Super Eagles of Nigeria fell to a 2-0 defeat to the Eagles of Mali in an international friendly game in Marrakech, Morocco on Tuesday night.

Nigeria, led by George Finidi, fell behind in the first half and struggled all through to get an equaliser only to concede yet another goal late on.

The last time Mali defeated the Super Eagles was on 5th September 1975 also in a friendly which ended 4-1.

Finidi started Jamilu Collins, Raphael Onyedika, and Kenneth Omeruo, replacing Bruno Onyemaechi, Frank Onyeka and Benjamin Tanimu, who all featured in the 2-1 win against Ghana last Friday.

Mali dominated the early parts of the game, and their breakthrough came in the 14th minute as a defensive error saw El Bilal Toure capitalise and scored.

Read Also: Super Eagles defeat Ghana’s Black Stars in friendly

Mali then doubled their lead on 87 minutes thanks to Kamory Doumbia who raced into the Super Eagles’ 18 yard box and fired past Nwabali.

Nigeria’s best chance of scoring was missed by Cyriel Dessers, who had a one-on-one fired above the bar before the Malians added a second.

Prior to Tuesday’s game, the Eagles were unbeaten in eight straight fixtures against the Malians, recording five wins and three draws.

Up next for the Super Eagles is the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against South Africa in June.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now