Two goals in the first four minutes helped give Mali a 3-1 win over Malawi, but it was not enough for them to advance from Group A of the African Cup of Nations.

Mali got off to a great start scoring two goals in the opening five minutes, with Frederic Kanoute scoring after just a minute follwoing a goalkeeping blunder from Swadick Sanudi before Seydou Keita added a second with a thumping free-kick two minutes later!

Mali, who needed a victory over Malawi and an Algeria defeat to progress couldn't of hoped for a better start. The first was lucky, as Sanudi's clearance went straight to Kanoute, who had a simple task to volley into an empty net. The second was pure class though, a stunning 30-yard free-kick from Keita which arrowed into the top-left corner.

Russel Mwafulirwa managed to pull one back for Malawi after a bit of a goal mouth scramble on 58 minutes, but will rue his missed header after 71 minutes which could have put Malawi through. But instead, Mali went on to increase their lead through Mamadou Bagayoko with four minutes to play.

Unfortunately, the result was of no use to either side, and because of events in Luanda both sides bowed out with Algeria progressing from Group A courtesy of their earlier win over Mali.