Mali fire coach Magassouba after World Cup disappointment

Mali have fired coach Mohamed Magassouba after their failure to qualify for the World Cup, making him the second casualty this week after the completion of the qualifiers on Tuesday. The 64-year-old coach, who has been in charge of his country’s national team since 2017, was dismissed with all of his staff, the Malian Federation said.

Mali were beaten 1-0 over two legs by Tunisia in their World Cup playoff this week, giving away a horror own goal in last Friday’s first leg in Bamako. It was the closest Mali had come to a first-ever World Cup finals appearance, but Magassouba’s firing was expected after they were also eliminated in the round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in January on post-match penalties by lowly Equatorial Guinea.

Nigeria on Friday fired their coach Augustine Eguavoen after they lost on the away goals rule to Ghana in their World Cup playoff.