Mali 4 & 5

 

Lassana Coulibaly (Salernitana | ITA)
vs. Burkina Faso (2:1) | AFCON | 2024 in Ivory Coast

Hamari Traoré (Real Sociedad | ESP)
vs. Namibia (2:2) | AFCON | 2024 in Ivory Coast

As a collector of national team shirts I do hold a few weird opinions on international - such as: Uzbekistan will soon qualify for a World Cup or Mali is a favourite to the next AFCON (at any point in time). Now the first has realised just the day before I am writing it, after writing about it here for over a decade. The second is true, too, though Mali still has to deliver and lift the trophy one day. 2024, once again, they have a great campaign, winning their group comfortably and kicking out Burkina Faso, another usual underdog to win the trophy, in the first knock-out match. Then, however, they got very unlucky against host Ivory Coast and lost against them in overtime.

In all that, Mali was once again beautifully dressed. One could argue that they were the best-dressed team at the tournament. Supplied by Airness, a French company founded by a Malian-French businessman, they once again sticked out, as they did in the previous edition with a very similar design. Though, one has to admit, this design had a major shortcoming: It just isn't working with a front number, which is a must at a AFCON. As you can see in the match pic, it had to be weirdly applied to the belly button. 

Still, I am more than pleased that Airness sold these shirts once again and I just had to get both of them before the AFCON already, just to be dressed in style when following the matches.