South Sudan vs Mali Match Analysis and Prediction

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South Sudan and Mali will have an encounter in their second Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Thursday ast the St. Mary’s Stadium-Kitende.

The hosts will be seeking for a quick response having lost their opening match, while Mali will be looking to pick up a second straight victory following an impressive win last time out.

South Sudan fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of The Scorpions of Gambia in Saturday’s Group G encounter at the Stade Lat Dior.

The game was decided in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time as Ablie Jallow scored the opener to put Stefano Cusin’s side to the sword.

The Bright Stars have now lost five of their last seven matches since March 2021, with the only success in that time coming in the preliminary qualifying round of the AFCON against Djibouti.

Already left with some catching up to do, South Sudan will need to come away with all three points in Thursday’s contest to get their qualfication journey up and running.

Meanwhile, Mali claimed a 4-0 victory over Congo at Stade du 26 Mars on Saturday to kick off their AFCON qualifying journey on a positive note.

Les Aigles got the job done inside the opening 45 minutes as a brace from El Bilal Toure in between goals from Mohamed Camara and Kalifa Coulibaly effectively decided the game before half time.

Mohamed Magassouba’s side have now ended a three-game winless run in grand style and will be looking to pick up where they left off in Bamako.

They now face an opposing side who have lost each of the previous four encounters between the teams by a combined score of 11-0.

Unbeaten in eight of their last 12 games away from home excluding major competitions, Mali will back themselves to come out on top.

South Sudan vs Mali head to head

The two national teams have previously met on only four occasions in the African Cup of Nations Qualification, where Mali have claimed victories in all four meetings. Mali have scored 11 goals without conceding in the process. Mali claimed a 3-0 win at home in their last meeting in 2019.

Mali 2-0 South Sudan 13/06/15

South Sudan 0-3 Mali 04/06/16

South Sudan 0-3 Mali 09/09/18

Mali 3-0 South Sudan 23/03/19

South Sudan latest home form

South Sudan have recently kept a patchy run of form at home, having lost two of their five most recent matches. They defeated Djibouti 1-0 in their last home game in the Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded four.

South Sudan 2-1 Seychelles 09/10/19

South Sudan 1-2 Burkina Faso 17/11/19

South Sudan 1-0 Uganda 16/11/20

South Sudan 0-1 Malawi 24/03/21

South Sudan 1-0 Djibouti 27/03/22

South Sudan latest away form

South Sudan have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just one of their nine most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Gambia in their last away game in the AFCON Qualifiers. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded eight.

Kenya 1-0 South Sudan 13/03/21

Burkina Faso 1-0 South Sudan 29/03/21

Jordan 3-0 South Sudan 21/06/21

Djibouti 2-4 South Sudan 23/03/22

Gambia 1-0 South Sudan 04/06/22

Mali latest home form

Mali have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just two of their eight most recent matches. They defeated Congo 4-0 in their last home game in the AFCON Qualifiers. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded just one.

Mali 1-0 Uganda 14/11/21

Mali 2-0 Mauritania 20/01/22

Mali 0-0(P) Equatorial Guinea 26/01/22

Mali 0-1 Tunisia 25/03/22

Mali 4-0 Congo 04/06/22

Mali latest away form

Mali have recently been in a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their six most recent matches. They drew 0-0 with Tunisia in their last away game in the World Cup Qualifiers. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded one.

Kenya 0-1 Mali 10/10/21

Rwanda 0-3 Mali 11/11/21

Tunisia 0-1 Mali 12/01/22

Gambia 1-1 Mali 16/01/22

Tunisia 0-0 Mali 29/03/22

South Sudan news

The availability of Peter Makoi for South Sudan is currently hanging in the balance as he lasted only 36 minutes during his team’s defeat to Gambia.

Ninenteen-year-old Joseph Malish is on hand to take Makoi’s place in the lineup for Thursday’s contest should the latter be deemed unfit to participate.

Mali news

Ibrahima Kone is a major doubt for this contest after he was forced off with an injury in the first half last time out.

Kalifa Coulibaly came off the bench for Kone to good effect in the game, and the forward is expected to be named in the starting XI for this contest.

Prediction and Odds

South Sudan head into the contest with lesser confidence after losing to Gambia last time out, and they have also failed to win any of the last four meetings between the two sides.

Mali boast a significantly better squad than their hosts, and we are backing them to claim all three points.

Odds: 1 2.40 X 2.05 2 1.89