Mali 3

 

Abdoulay Diaby (Sporting, POR)
vs. Tunisia (1:1) | AFCON Group Stage | 2019 in Egypt

Mali is one of these constantly underrated secret powerhouses of African football. While they never qualified for the World Cup, they have been a constant thread at AFCONs over the last decade and only lost a single match over 90 minutes in the entire year of 2024 (vs. Ghana). Their squad was the eight most valuable at the last AFCON. Yet, when I was looking for pictures of the 2019 Mali team, all I found where articles claiming it was a massive success and surprise to get a draw against Tunisia - a team that is ranked lower, has a much lower market value and performed worse in prior AFCONs. In short: Mali is surely not an underdog in Africa - but it still is an underdog, somehow.

This shirt - and the subsequent one - however, are football nerd famous, at least. The massive Eagle spanning all over the shirt and the beautiful pan-African colours just make this one of the most outstanding shirts in international football in the last decade. Of course, I had to get one. I already have a shirt with the name of Seydou Keita, one of the best African footballers of all times, and a very vintage matchworn Mali shirt. I love them both, but they are equally both a bit boring. This one is the opposite of boring. It is a shirt that gets you all the attention, if you wear it to your local sports training (trust me, I have tried it). 

I am not sure how I sorted this shirt out in the end, but I guess I just bought it straight from Airness for 70-odd Euros. That is not cheap, but totally worth it.