U-17 World Cup: Mali deserved to beat New Zealand – Adama Diallo

Mali U-17 Boys coach Adama Diallo has confidently said they deserved to beat New Zealand in their 3-0 opening win of the 2025 FIFA u-17 World Cup in Qatar on Wednesday.

The Africans opened the scoring after just 17 minutes when Seydou Dembele broke clear of the New Zealand defence and slotted home after a one-two with Zoumana Ballo.

𝗕𝗨𝗨𝗨𝗨𝗧 𝗱𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝘆𝗱𝗼𝘂 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲́𝗹𝗲́ ! 𝗡𝗼𝘀 𝗨𝟭𝟳 𝗺𝗲̀𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝟭-𝟬 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮̀ 𝗹𝗮 𝗡𝗼𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲-𝗭𝗲́𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲 🤲🏾🇲🇱pic.twitter.com/4l3a9qLbjf

— MALI COMPS 🇲🇱 (@malicomps) November 5, 2025

The duo then teamed up again in the second half when Dembele played an exquisite through-ball to Ballo, who struck home with precision. Raymond Bomba sealed the three points 12 minutes from time after he broke the offside trip following a clever pass from Ibrahim Diakite and guided the ball into the bottom corner.

Mali had to win at all costs

“The three points were the most important thing to take away. Beyond that, I’m happy with how we played: winning 3-0 and not conceding a goal, in style. There was also the pressure of the first match; we had to win at all costs,” Diallo told FIFA.com.

“But I’m happy with what my lads produced tonight. It’s the World Cup. The World Cup is huge. The lads were excited and we knew it would be like that at the start, but we talked to them, calmed them down, told them to play like they do in training, like in the other friendlies, and that’s what they did.”

The win enabled Mali to move top of Group L with three points, the same number as second-placed Austria.

Mali will next face Austria, the other winners from the first round of matches in Group L, on Saturday.

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