Egypt vs Mali: History of a never-ending rivalry

 

ABIDJAN (Cote d’Ivoire) – Youth basketball in Africa is the perfect breeding ground for rivalries. And one of the most intense rivalries is the one that opposes Mali to Egypt.

The upcoming FIBA U18 Women's African Championship will see Egypt battle to retain their 2020 title while Mali will try to reclaim their crown.

Will Madagascar be the place where Mali will earn their eighth title ? Or will Egypt rise to the occasion and win their second consecutive trophy, the third one with their names on it ?

Indeed, these two countries are the most successful on the continent, with Mali claiming seven titles and never finishing further off than the fourth place.

 
Mali’s love story with the U18 Women goes back to the mid-1990s.

Travelling to Maputo, they fended off another arch-rival, Mozambique, to clinch their first-ever African title (80-69) in the two-nation Championship. 

Four years later, Mali squared off Cote d'Ivoire and Angola to claim their second crown.

Then came the remake of the 2000 final against Cote d’Ivoire, won once again by Mali (77-66), and in 2008, a trip to Rades, Tunisia, for Mali’s back-to-back titles, this time against hosts.

And since 2014, Mali added a three-peat to their feats, two of which against Egypt, each time in Cairo.

Egypt, on the other hand, conquered Africa twice. The first time was in front of their home crowd, against Nigeria, with a one-point advantage (63-62).

They, however, had to wait for the past edition to climb back to the top, while witnessing Mali conquer title after title. In 2020, Cairo, their capital city, celebrated along with them as they finally overcame Mali 68-63.

This rivalry also translates in terms of MVP Awards.

Malians Fanta Toure, Laoudy Maiga, Djeneba N’Diaye and Assetou Sissoko seem to have set up a tradition with the most prestigious individual award, while only three Egyptians – Reem Osama (2010), Meral Abdelgawad (2016) and Yara Hussein (2020) – made it to the hall of fame.

Now, this rivalry is sure to be a watch-out in Antsirabe, should these two teams meet in the group phase, or in Antananarivo, should they match for the finals.

But Mali has a slight advantage over their arch-rivals. Indeed, what they bring to the table is valuable experience, obtained at their different FIBA World Cup trips. But Mali are also known to be revengeful. Not sure they quite digested their defeat at the hands of the Egyptians, especially when they were the reigning champions back in 2020.

Mali claimed their 7th title in a packed Maxaquene Arena

The Egyptians, on their side, are known to be tactically strong and stone-cold shooters. Their style of play, pushing forward and coupled with neat and clean displays of skills, is sure to set the court on fire.

Now the big question is: Will Mali add an eighth crown to their already brilliant prize list or will Egypt take the trophy home ? Answer is due on August 14.

FIBA