Leo Peterson
Dailysports's expert
Central African Republic
Mali
On March 24, 2025, the 6th round World Cup qualification match will take place at the Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca, featuring the national teams of the Central African Republic and Mali. I suggest betting on goals from one of the teams.
Preview
The Central African Republic (CAR) national football team is forced to play its home matches on neutral ground in Morocco. The main reasons are the lack of stadiums in their country that meet international standards, as well as the complex political situation, which makes hosting major sporting events unsafe.
In the current qualifying cycle, CAR has already played the first match of this international break, suffering a painful defeat against Madagascar with a score of 1-4. This setback worsened the team's position in the standings – with one win and one draw, the "Porcupines" are in fifth place in the group, having only 4 points. They trail the leader, Ghana, by 8 points, and their chances of advancing to the next stage are becoming increasingly slim with each match.
The Mali national team is positioned one spot above the Central African Republic, but their advantage in the standings is more significant – a 4-point difference. This scenario gives the Malians additional motivation and pushes them to actively fight for crucial points in the upcoming match.
The team is approaching this encounter in a fighting spirit – in the previous round, Mali confidently thrashed the Comoros with a score of 3-0. However, memories of the first meeting with CAR leave a bitter taste – despite complete dominance, including in shots (14:1), the Malians could only manage a 1-1 draw at home.
Probable lineups
- CAR: Yufei, Dualengbe, Yambere, Gambor, Benamma, Koyalipu, Guinary, Kondogbia, Uri, Yombi, Mafuta
- Mali: Diarra, Niakhate, Diakite, Diaby, Diarra, Bissouma, Kamara, Nene, Doumbia, Dieng, Toure
Match facts and H2H
- The Central African Republic is going through tough times – the team has lost seven of their last eight matches.
- In only two of these encounters did the "Porcupines" manage to score against their opponents.
- The Mali national team, on the other hand, is displaying confident and stable performance. Over the last ten matches, the team has lost only once.
- The Malians' defense is particularly impressive – they have conceded only two goals during this period.
Prediction
A neutral field, four goals conceded in the last match, and the status of underdogs with bookmakers – all this does not favor the CAR team. In this situation, betting on two or more goals by the nominal guests at odds of 2.16 seems quite justified.
