Tom Saintfiet bids Mali farewell after leaving role

Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet had confirmed his exit to manage Mali national team.

Saintfiet officially stepped down as head coach of the Mali national team. Appointed in August 2024, the 53-year-old coach saw his tenure come to an end.

 

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The announcement of his departure was made during the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mali had second highest point average

Confirming his exit, he said: “I would like to thank my players, staff, the FEMAFOOT, the government, the media and naturally the fans for the fantastic two years we had together in Mali.

“In these 2 years we played 17 competitive matches and had only 2 defeats (Ghana away 1-0 and the quarter final of the Africa Cup with 10 against 11 of Senegal 0-1).

“Some other remarkable facts: Quarter Finalist in Africa Cup (only second time for Mali in last 6 editions). We had the highest point average (2,17) in history of Mali in World Cup qualifiers. We had the second highest point average (1,94) in history of Mali in all competitive matches!

He continued: “The biggest win for Mali in the last 50 years (6-0 against Eswatini), the current FIFA ranking is 52, in august 2024 when we started the ranking was 53, 21 players made their debut for the National Team in this period.

“I wish Mali Good Luck! Allez les Aigle.”

Before going Mali, he managed the Gambian national team from 2018 to 2024, earning a place in the top five list of best coaches of the year in the African continent in 2022 and 2023, voted by Confédération Africaine de Football.

In 2022, he was second runner-up for the Royal Belgian Football Association’s “Coach of the Year” award. By April 2026, Saintfiet had already achieved 124 FIFA official matches as coach of national teams.

Saintfiet has coached in several countries, including Belgium, Qatar, Germany, Faroe Islands, Finland, Jordan and the Netherlands.

He has also worked in Africa, having been the head coach of the national teams of Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi and Togo, among others. Saintfiet was manager of Finnish Premier League club RoPS Rovaniemi.