Mali v Ivory Coast: Africa Cup of Nations 2019, the last 16 games – live! | Soccer

54 minutes: Mali makes the first substitution of the day, leading Adama Traoré to Diaby. The Ivorian defense is struggling to find the pace and now has more.

52 minutes: A chance for Mali! Marega plays Djenepo this time. Bagayoko falls to the ground, giving him a free-kick on goal, and he moves on to Gbohouo before, just as a goal seemed inevitable, becoming confused and falling.

50 minutes: No sign for the moment that Ivory Coast woke up at halftime. Mali continues to appear as the only side having no idea how to win this match or even to attack.

46 minutes: Kanon muddles, the ball ricocheting on either side of his legs and to a Malian player playing Diaby on the right. Kanon has the great chance to finish with a corner and the latter is totally harmless.

Malian players gather in the tunnel before the second half. No sign of the Ivorians, which follows much the pattern of the first half.

Hi, Simon here, again. Sorry for the temporary loss of updates. As vexed as I am by my recalcitrant computer, Mali will be more upset not to go at least for a positive purpose. The first half was impressive with Djenepo, remarkable on the left and Traoré also good on the right. Marega, unfortunately did not bring his shooting boots. The Ivory Coast has not really bothered its goals.

Marega is almost played at, but is reported offside. And it's halftime. Mali in the lead, but no goal at the moment.

45 minutes: Zaha is kicked out of the ball and kicks the defender. He wants to be careful. An extra minute …

42 minutes: A drop of Djenepo's shoulder, which then feeds Marega. The striker Porto is shooting from a tight angle, only finding the side net.

39 minutes: My apologies – my TV feed was cut unexpectedly. It's one of those days. Kodjia is trying to find a place in the Mali region, but is closed. Prediction – this first half will end without purpose.

35 minutes: Ouch, that sounds naughty. Ivorian central defender Wilfried Konan played a high ball and was found against Diarra for the Malian goal. The defender collapses and his teammates rush the medical team. The stretcher is out, but Konan stands up and looks ready to continue. Worried, since it seemed to be cold.

32 minutes: Moussa Djenepo, the winger hired by Southampton this summer, has caused a lot of trouble to Ivory Coast, which has struggled to break free from halftime in the last few minutes.

28 minutes: Mali was the most offensive camp, and Koné had a shot from the edge of the box but hit it over the bar.

26 minutes: Niall McVeigh, just to jump because Simon has some technical problems.

14 minutes: The Ivory Coast has so far been leaning on long balls. That does not seem to be a hopeless tactic: Pepe runs after the latest news, but it's on and picked up by Diarra.

11 minutes: Mali looks very keen in attack and Marega leads his last push forward. It's a good move, but rather than reaching the goal, he tries to set up Coulibaly, where everything goes wrong. A minute earlier, Djenepo ran on the left before striking hard back, which his teammate could not control.

7 minutes: A half-chance for Zaha, who faces a bad defensive head, injures the inside of the right foot and shoots, but two Malian defenders jump on the ball and hit first.

5 minutes: Stroke! Mali scored the first goal, with Kone scoring a 40-yard free-kick. He pbades through Pepe and is caught with a little venom, but he is far enough away from the goal for Gbohouo to be able to gather easily.

3 minutes: Ivory Coast had most of the possession early, but did not do much with it.

1 minute: Peeeeep! They left! The Côte d'Ivoire, all in white, launches the game.

The Malian team is absolutely Abominable singers. During all my years spent watching international football, I think it's a new record.

The players are on their exit! The action is more than just two hymns!

A reminder that there is There will be no VAR today (but there will be some from the quarter-finals):

The teams are in! And these are the starting formations of today:

Mali: Diarra, Traore, Koné, Wagué, Fofana, Haidara, Sambadekou, Coulibaly, Djenepo, Diaby, Marega.
Ivory Coast: Gbohouo, Coulibaly, Gbamin, Mamadou, Kanon, Kessie, Serey Die, Zaha, Pepe, Kodjia.

A quarter-final against Algeria is at stake for Mali and Côte d'Ivoire. Both have won two of their three games in the group stage. Ivorians lost third place and placed second in Morocco in Group D; Mali drew with Tunisia but still won Group E at a canter. Ibrahim Kamara, Ivory Coast coach, fully understands the implications of this match: "We know that if we do not win, we are eliminated," he said. And never has a more true word been uttered. "We will have to concentrate because any mistake could be expensive," he added.

Cote d 'Ivoire won the tournament in 2015 and in 1992 from elsewhere. Mali reached five semi-finals and one final in 1972, but has no trophy in his cabinet. "What happened in the past does not matter. What matters is the next game, "snorted their coach, Mohamed Magbadouba. "We want to do the story. To do this, we need humility and self-sacrifice. We want people in Mali to be happy.

According to the World Happiness Report 2019, Mali is the 128th happiest country. Côte d 'Ivoire ranks 99th against 151st in 2015 *. A small bonus of happiness arrives at one of them in a few hours, and we can share it with them. Welcome!

* The UK, which seems to be filled with pretty miserable people, is ranked 15th.