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As Ghana take on Mali on Friday at Antalya in Turkey, Pulse Ghana has compiled the six most memorable clashes between these two sides.
READ MORE: Here is the kick-off time for Ghana-Mali clash today
2nd October 1960
Ghana 5-1 Mali
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Ghana walloped Mali 5-1 to reach the final of the West African Championship a.k.a Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup.
Baba Yara and Edward Acquah netted two goals each and Aggrey Fyn scored the other goal.
The game was the first competitive game between the two West African countries.
3rd March 1963
Ghana 4-0 Mali
Ghana trounced Mali 4-0 to defend their title as the champion of the West African soccer Championship
The Ghana attacking machine was full of fight as they played a scintillating game to be champions again.
The man who orchestrated the downfall of the Malians was the footballer of the year Edward Acquah nicknamed 'The Man with Sputnik Shot'. Acquah scored three of the four goals. He opened the scoring in the 17th minute and Baba Yara doubled the lead in the 35th minute.
Before Acquah executed the coup the grace with two more goals in the 62nd and 77th minutes.
7th June 2009
Mali 0-2 Ghana
FIFA World Cup qualifiers
Black Stars took Mali by storm as they edged their opponents 0-2 to maintain a perfect record in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Kwadwo Asamoah who played the game of his life scored a long ranger to put Ghana in then driving seat, before Mathew Amoah registered the match-winner.
The win kept Ghana top of the four-team Group D table with six points, thus three points clear with four games to play.
Mali, who have earned only a point from their first game dominated the second half after a balanced opening session but failed to break the Ghana backline.
Ghana could have broken the deadlock in the first half but Matthew Amoah’s header to a low cross by Prince Tagoe flew over the bar to the relief of Malian goalkeeper Mahamadou Sidibe.
Opoku Agyemang who was handed his first competitive start for the Black Stars was the first player to pick the yellow card from referee Divine Evehe.
Mali created half-chances as their final crosses from the wings was dealt with by goalkeeper Richard Kingson.
The opening half which was fairly balanced ended goalless.
Milovan Rajevac started the second half with the second side that began the opening half but it was Mali who should have scored as Frederic Kanoute tested Richard Kingson with a shot from outside the box which missed goal.
Ghana were reeling under pressure with the Malians dictating the pace of the game at the Stade 26 Mars which had attracted a full house.
As the minutes went by, John Paintsil flung a throw-in to Asamoah who turned round his marker and with the ball on his favourite left, let go a shot from 25 yards beating Mahamadou Sidibe for the opener after 67 minutes.
The goal revived Ghana’s hopes of a claiming all three points on the evening as the Malians, stunned appeared to have completely missed the plot.
Essien went forward past two markers and saw his shot spilled by the goalkeeper but Sidibe was quick to collect the ball.
But twelve minutes after the opener, Michael Essien combined beautifully with Matthew Amoah and laid the final ball into the NAC Breda striker’s path to squeeze a shot past the Malian goalkeeper, a goal which put the game beyond their hosts.
With the game almost sealed, the Ghana bench effected their substitution with Isaac Vorsah coming on for Opoku Agyeman.
Mali surged forward for a goal but they missed target narrowly in the dying minutes of play.
Two more changes were made by Milovan Rajevac as he pulled out Prince Tagoe for Haminu Draman and Moussa Narry came on for Michael Essien.
The Black Stars who have kept another clean sheet would head to Omdurman next for another qualifying game against Sudan on June 20.
Benin beat Sudan 1-0 in the other group D game on Saturday.
Ghana line up:
Richard Kingson, John Paintsil, Harrison Afful, John Mensah, Eric Addo, Anthony Annan, Michael Essien/ Moussa Narry, Kwadwo Asamoah, Prince Tagoe/Haminu Draman, Opoku Agyeman/Isaac Vorsah, Matthew Amoah
28th January, 2012
Ghana 2-0 Mali
2012 Africa Cup of Nations
Ghana beat Mali 2-0 in the first ever encounter between the two sides in the African Cup of Nations.
Two second half goals from Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew made victory certain.
Asamoah Gyan put the Black Stars ahead in the second half and victory was sealed as Bakary Andre Ayew fired in a low grounder 13 minutes after the opener of the Group D clash in the Stade de Franceville in Gabon.
Ghana beat Botswana 1-0 in their opening match and look set to qualify as group winners. The group is still wide open between Ghana, Mali and Guinea as the qualification places would determined on the final day of matches.
Goran Stevanovic’s side tops the group with six points while Mali and Guinea are level on three points ahead of the last matches on Wednesday.
With the game following the 6-1 thrashing of Botswana by Guinea, the thought of a great game was anticipated by fans as the African derby, the decisive clash failed to reproduce the same form until after the hour mark.
Ten minutes into the start of the game, Mali’s Maiga Modibo dribbled his way on the left side of the Ghana defence his final touch went out of play.
Goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey missed a cross into the box which went out of touch for a corner kick. Again the Ghana goalkeeper failed to get hand on the kick which came off a Malian to the far post.
Soon after Ghana’s best chance fell to Sulley Muntari but he dragged his shot wide from close range after Mali goalkeeper Diakite Soumaila had spilled Kwadwo Asamoah’s shot from 22 metres in the 24th minute.
Kwadwo Asamoah had another go at goal but after finding space in front of the Mali box, he blazed his shot wide of goal in the 35th minute.
Jonathan Mensah, who together with John Boye did a great job at the back picked the game’s first booking after bringing down Diabate Tidiane.
And from the kick, Mali struck the upright beating the diving Kwarasey only for Tidiane to sky the ball after Mensah dived in.
The game’s second booking was handed to Seydou Keita for fouling Anthony Annan as the final five minutes saw little action as both sides just rarely attempted to break forward.
Both sides returned from the break and started off just like the first with Tamboura Adama and Ghana’s captain, John Paintsil getting booked.
Ghana made their first change with Charles Takyi taking over from Muntari. Few minutes later Mali conceded a freekick from 30 yards after Andre was brought down by Mali’s Traore Abdou.
Gyan, who had been quiet all evening curled the ball into the upright of Soumaila’s post in the 63rd minute to give Ghana the lead.
Two minutes after the opener, Kwarasey was beaten to a corner kick by Maiga but the ball flew past the post.
As the game progressed, Ghana found their spark. Gyan back-heeled the ball into Andre’s path and the attacker turned two defenders before firing to the far corner of post for Ghana’s second goal in the 76th minute.
Stevanovic made his second change, bringing on Samuel Inkoom for Kwadwo Asamoah and Derek Boateng for Anthony Annan as Ghana wrapped up the all three points.
11th February, 2012
Third-place playoff
Mali 2-0 Ghana
Cheick Diabate scored in each half as Mali defeated ten-man Ghana 2-0 to finish third at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations.
The Bordeaux forward poked in a rebound midway through the opening half and tapped home a cross with ten minutes left after Ghana defender Isaac Vorsah had been red carded for a second caution.
It was fourth time lucky for the Malian Eagles as they lost three previous third-place matches in the African football showpiece, while the Black Stars were suffering a second loss in three play-off appearances.
Striker Asamoah Gyan, who missed a penalty in the semi-final loss to Zambia, was a notable omission as Ghana made four changes with suspensions ruling out defender John Boye and midfielder Derek Boateng.
Mali also had four new faces compared to the side that took Côte d’Ivoire to the wire in the other semi-final with goalkeeper Oumar Sissoko, defenders Ousmane Coulibaly and Abdoulaye Maiga and striker Garra Dembele coming in.
Ghana dominated the cagey early exchanges at a sparsely populated Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, only to fall behind midway through the opening half.
A clever corner routine saw the kick from Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita find Bakaye Traore just outside the box and when Adam Kwarasey failed to grasp his low drive, Diabate reacted quickest to poke the ball over the line.
There could have been a second goal for the Eagles ten minutes later as a swift counter exposed the Black Stars defence, but when Kwarasey failed to hold a low Samba Diakate shot there was no Malian to take advantage this time.
With Ghana seldom threatening the Malian defence, coach Goran Stevanovic introduced striker Prince Tagoe for midfielder Samuel Inkoom nine minutes before half-time.
Another substitution by the four-time champions and four-time runners-ups, but Mali ended the game as bronze medalists.
Mali finished third place in the Africa Cup of Nations after beating Ghana 3-1 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday. The Malians dedicated their campaign to their war-torn home country, where Malian troops are fighting Islamist militants.
Mali defeated Ghana 3-1 to finish third in the African Cup of Nations on Saturday, overcoming the Black Stars for the second consecutive year in the consolation match.
Striker Mahamadou Samassa opened the scoring with a header in the 21st minute, captain Seydou Keita added to the lead with a close-range shot in the 48th, and Sigamary Diarra sealed the victory in stoppage time, ending Mali’s emotional campaign.
Kwadwo Asamoah scored for Ghana in the 82nd. Ghana striker Wakaso Mubarak missed a penalty kick early in the second half.
Last year, Mali beat Ghana 2-0 in the consolation match. It entered this year’s tournament with players saying they were motivated to bring joy to fans enduring political instability and fighting back home.
Saturday’s loss at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium added even more disappointment to Ghana, which reached the semifinals the last four times but was leaving without the title again.
Ghana was relegated to the third-place match after losing the semifinal to Burkina Faso in a penalty shootout. The Black Stars won the last of their four titles in 1982.
Mali was trying to make it to the final for the first time in more than 30 years but its hopes of a first title ended after a 4-1 defeat to Nigeria in the semis. Its best campaign remains the runner-up finish at home in 1972.
The Malians dedicated this latest uplifting campaign to their conflict-torn home country, where French troops are fighting Islamist extremists.
Samassa scored with a diving header from near the penalty spot after a breakaway on the left side, and former Barcelona player Keita netted his third goal of the tournament with an easy shot from close range after a cross from the right.
Keita scored again in the 72nd but the goal was called off because of offsides.
Ghana pulled one closer near the end with a long-range left-footed shot that curled to fool Mali goalkeeper Soumaila Diakite, who was his team’s hero in the penalty shootout against host South Africa in the quarterfinals.
Diarra closed the scoring in the third minute of stoppage time, firing a left-footed shot into the far corner after beating Ghana defenders to a long ball inside the area.
Ghana had a chance to get on the board early in the second half after the referee called a hand ball inside the Mali box, but Mubarak sent his shot from the spot way over the crossbar. The Espanyol striker entered the match as one of the tournament’s leading scorers with four goals along with Nigeria’s Emmanuel Emenike, who will play in Sunday’s final if he recovers from an injury.
9th February, 2012
Ghana 1-3 Mali
2013 Africa Cup of Nations Third-place playoff
Mali finished third in the Africa Cup of Nations for the second year running after beating Ghana in an entertaining third place play-off.
Mahamadou Samassa put the Eagles ahead with a powerful header, before captain Seydou Keita doubled their lead, stabbing home from close range.
Ghana midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah pulled one back with his shot from distance beating keeper Soumbeyla Diakite.
Ghana's Mubarak Wakaso spurned the chance to top the goal-scoring charts, blazing a penalty high over the bar, in a rain-sodden Port Elizabeth.
The two sides were meeting in this fixture for the second year in a row and for the fourth time in the last two tournaments - having also met at the group stages at both.
Ghana started positively with full-back Richard Kissi Boateng breaking into the box from the left, but he was unable to find striker Asamoah Gyan with his pull-back.
Gyan was then gifted an opening from Adama Coulibaly, as the Mali defender gave the ball away to the Ghana striker, who could only blaze well over from a good position.
Mali showed their intent with Samassa latching on to a long ball behind the Ghana defence, before lashing his effort straight at Fatau Dauda in the Black Stars goal.
Samassa then deservedly opened the scoring on 21 minutes, powering his diving header past Dauda, after great work from Adama Tamboura on the left to break forward and supply a pinpoint cross for the big Chievo striker.
Asamoah had a chance to equalise almost immediately, but pulled his shot badly, before slamming a loose ball into the side netting.
Wakaso then hammered in a shot from the edge of the box, stinging Diakite's hands, as the Mali keeper pushed it away.
Samassa almost put Mali two up just before the break, powering forward to squeeze his shot through defender Isaac Vorsah and Dauda, only to see it rebound off the outside of the post.
Samassa soon turned provider, nodding on for captain Seydou Keita to control beautifully, but shoot just wide of Dauda's post.
Gyan then hammered a free-kick over the bar from some distance right on half-time, as Mali went in at the break in control of the contest.
And the Eagles took firm control just after the break as their talisman and skipper Keita put them two up. Samassa once more supplied the former Barcelona midfielder, who slid home from eight yards.
Ghana winger Christian Atsu could well have pulled one back for Ghana as he was allowed to turn in the box, but slashed his effort high over the bar.
Wakaso - who had already scored three penalties in the finals - had a chance to add to his tally, after what looked like a harsh penalty decision, but the Ghana midfielder fired over from the spot.
At the other end, Diakite was relieved to finally gather, after spilling the ball no less than three times in succession, as the slippery conditions almost allowed Ghana an opening.
Keita then had the ball in the Ghana net for a third time, but was adjudged offside after Cheick Tidiane Diabate's flick-on.
Ghana substitute Albert Adomah spurned a good chance from close range, before Asamoah finally beat Diakite, with the Malian keeper completely misjudging the flight of the Juventus midfielder's swerving shot.
Ghana tried in vain to force an equaliser and automatic penalties late on, but their pressure came to nought, as Asante received a yellow card for diving in the box.
Diarra then latched on to a long ball from a Mali break to shoot across Dauda's goal and into the far corner to secure third spot for the Eagles once more.