4 Belgian national coaches at the Africa Cup: Tom Saintfiet also guides Mali to the final tournament

Saintfiet's Mali joins the party

Mali have also qualified for the Africa Cup. The team of national coach Tom Saintfiet beat Namibia 1-0 in their last match in Group A of the qualifiers on Sunday. After Guinea and Gambia, Mali is the third country to qualify for the final tournament from that group. Saintfiet's team finished second in the group with 13 points, behind Guinea (14 points).

Four Belgians at the Africa Cup

With Mali's qualification, there will be four Belgian national coaches at the Africa Cup next January in Cameroon. In addition to Saintfiet, those are Paul Put (Burkina Faso), Sven Vandenbroeck ( Zambia ) and Hugo Broos (South Africa).

Mali won every match under Saintfiet

Saintfiet has only been in charge of Mali since October, but he has already qualified the country for the Africa Cup. Under his leadership, Mali won four out of four matches in the qualifiers. Only Morocco, the number two in the FIFA world ranking, was too strong for Saintfiet's team in a friendly earlier this month (1-0 defeat).

Saintfiet proud of his players

"I am very proud of my players," said an emotional Saintfiet after the match against Namibia. "They have worked hard for this and they deserve it. We are now going to enjoy this moment and then we will start preparing for the Africa Cup." Mali is in Group F at the Africa Cup, along with Tunisia, Mauritania and Gambia.