Morocco fall to sixth in FIFA rankings after Mali draw

Morocco were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali in Tangier on Sunday, a result that saw the Atlas Lions drop to sixth in the FIFA rankings.

The friendly was the final match of the international break for both sides and came 10 months after their previous meeting at CAN 2025 in Rabat. The teams again finished level by the same score, this time at the Grand Stade de Tanger.

Mohamed Ouahbi made five changes to the Morocco side that started the 2-0 defeat by Lesotho. Zakaria El Ouahdi, Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal, the injured Noussair Mazraoui, Oussama Targhalline and Brahim Diaz were replaced by Ali Maamar, Nayef Aguerd, returning from injury, Anass Salah-Eddine, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Ez Abde.

For Mali, Anthony Da Silva selected Mamadou Samassa in goal. Ousmane Camara moved to right-back in the absence of Hamari Traore, who began on the bench, while Check Keita came into central defence. Amadou Haidara and Lassana Coulibaly started in midfield instead of Aliou Dieng and Kamory Doumbia, with Mamadou Doumbia replacing Lassine Sinayoko in attack.

Both teams threatened early. In the third minute, Mali responded to a Morocco attack with a powerful effort that Yassine Bounou pushed away to his right.

Morocco gradually took control. Bouaddi carried the ball through the Mali midfield before releasing Ismael Saibari, whose shot from the right was saved by Samassa in the 20th minute. Ez Abde then failed to connect with Azzedine Ounahi’s cross three minutes later before seeing another effort blocked by Adama Camara at the penalty spot in the 28th minute.

Mali continued to pose a threat, with Ange Martial Tia beating Aguerd with a nutmeg before Bouaddi made a last-ditch tackle to prevent him reaching Bounou in the 31st minute.

Morocco took the lead in the 35th minute when Ez Abde converted the penalty he had won. The hosts pressed for a second before half-time, but Abde headed over, Ounahi miscued his attempt and Bilal El Khannouss forced Samassa to turn a low shot around the post.

Ouahbi introduced Brahim Diaz and Soufiane Rahimi for Abde and Saibari in the 65th minute. Mali also made a series of changes, with Ousmane Diakite and Gaoussou Diarra entering in the 65th minute, followed by Emile Doucoure, Amadou Dante, Aliou Dieng and K. Doumbia in the 73rd minute. Haidara went off injured, while Dorgeles Nene, Samassa, Daouda Guindo, Mamadou Sangare and L. Coulibaly were also withdrawn.

The changes improved Mali, and Bounou tipped a powerful effort over the crossbar in the 72nd minute. Five minutes later, Dante equalised by converting beneath the bar from G. Diarra’s free-kick on the right.

Morocco sent on El Ouahdi and Gessime Yassine in the 80th minute, followed by Tawfik Bentayeb in stoppage time, but could not find a winner.

Brazil moved above Morocco into fifth place in the FIFA rankings, while Mali claimed a draw that was effectively worth a victory.