AFCON 2023 hosts Ivory Coast pulled off a miraculous comeback against Mali to book a semifinal spot despite suffering an early penalty and a player sent off in the first half.
Mali had the lead thanks to Nene Dorgeles, but Simon Adingra and Oumar Diakite’s two late goals in both normal and extra time crushed their hopes.
At just 12 minutes, Mali’s penalty claim following Odilon Kossounou’s handball in the box presented the first real threat to Ivory Coast.
Five minutes after the penalty was cancelled due to an offside call after a VAR review, Kossounou again committed a foul in the box, this time recklessly pulling down Lassine Sinayoko. However, he did not heed the warning from the previous incident.
Yahia Fofana denied Adama “Noss” Traore from the spot, but the hosts were still able to escape with a point despite the lack of VAR intervention this time.
Kossounou put an end to one of the worst individual performances in AFCON history when he was sent off for a second bookable offence before the half was up, making the match more worse.
Despite the red card, Ivory Coast led at halftime and continued to play until the 77th minute, when Nene Dorgeles’ incredible shot broke the tie for the Malian Eagles.
With just two minutes remaining in regular time, Simon Adingra of Ivory Coast scored an improbable equaliser to send the game into extra time, just as it looked like Mali was about to pull off a historic victory.
Following a dull thirty minutes of extra time, the Ivorians were rewarded for their perseverance when Oumar Diakite sensationally scored the game’s winning goal by flicking on a Seko Fofana shot to put the Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara crowd into a frenzy.
Following the thrilling victory, Hamari Traore of Mali was also given a red card for assaulting the referee, and Diakite was dismissed for a second yellow card for stripping off during the celebrations.