Mali were one of the teams I identified as dark horses in this year's Afcon and they have lived up to that so far, going undefeated in their first two group games and sitting at the top of the group with one game left to play.
Mali will definitely qualify for the Round of 16 automatically if they don't lose this match, but I think they will want to get a win to ensure they finish first and avoid other strong teams in the Round of 16. Ironically, many of the traditional powerhouses have underperformed at this year's Afcon and have only managed to qualify in second or best 3rd place, which means that for a country like Mali, winning the first place in the group could actually result in them facing the traditional powerhouses. After a historic win over Tunisia in their opening match, Namibia fell from grace to a cruel mortal coil when they suffered a crushing defeat to South Africa in their second match. However, they are still in a good position knowing that their destiny is in their own hands, and a win over Mali in this match would see them break through the group stage of the Afcon for the first time.
I'd love to see Namibia make history, but I think Mali are too strong, and once South Africa beat Tunisia, it will probably put them out of the group stage. I predict Mali to win the wave and top the group.
South Africa v Tunisia in the same group. After a disappointing 1st leg, the South African lads bounced back with a big win in their last match, the most closely fought match of this year's Afcon so far. This win is very important for South Africa and all 4 teams in this group are now in with a chance of automatic qualification to the Round of 16, provided they secure a win for themselves and hope that the outcome of the other match matches matches up with them. South Africa should go all out for a win in this match, and if they draw and Namibia win on the other side of the draw, they will have to fight with the rest of the group to qualify for the best 3rd place in the tournament. However, if both matches end in a draw, South Africa will benefit from a big win over Namibia and will qualify for the Round of 16 as the second best team.
