U17 WC: Africa’s last hope, Mali, Ousted by France In semis

Mali’s U17 national team journey at the FIFA U-17 World Cup has ended in semifinal as they lost 2-1 to France on Tuesday afternoon at Manahan Stadium in Surakata.

The young Eaglets had a stunning campaign so far being the only African team left in the tournament after Morocco’s ousting in quater-finals.

Soumaïla Coulibaly’s boys made a good start to the game against France by opening the scoreline in the additional time of the first-half (45+1) thanks to 16-year old Ibrahim Diarra who is one of the very best players so far in the competition.

However, the turning point of the game was Souleymane Sanogo’s red card inside 10 minutes into the second half (55th).

With their superiority, the French side managed to equalize a minute later (56th) as Yvann Titi beat Bourama Kone.

Ismail Bouneb added a second goal in the 69th minute to win it for France via a 2-1 margin.

Mali will try to come back home with the Bronze medal when they face Argentina – that lost to Germany in the second semi-final, on Friday, December 1 (12:00 GMT).

The final is scheduled to be played on Saturday at 12:00 GMT.