Jordan Ayew's fifth goal in six appearances restored Ghana's status as contenders for a place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Kamory Doumbia’s first half strike gave Mali the lead before Ernest Nuamah’s leveller, shortly after the break. Ghana snatched the win in stoppage time with Jordan Ayew's 25th goal in 103 appearances.

JoySports Victor Atsu Tamakloe runs the rule over the individual performances.

Ghana's line up in Bamako on Thursday night

Ati Zigi. 8/10.
Perhaps his finest night yet.
Zigi made two brilliant saves in the opening ten minutes. It was not just the nature of the saves, but the timing, too. The timing of those saves allowed Ghana to get through the desert storm without taking any significant punches.
Beyond that, he was composed and organised his backline well.
To pull off such a performance on a night when Ghana could not afford to drop points makes this all the more remarkable.

Gideon Mensah 5/10.
His inability to defend what appeared to be a harmless pass allowed Lassana Coulibaly to bully him, creating Mali's first goal.
Otto Addo's structure invited pressure down the side but Mensah, who was voted the best player in the French Ligue 2, held his own against the Malian onslaught.
His pass selection helped Ghana to retain possession, and a chance to move forward.
When he tired out, he made a few questionable calls but given what he had to deal with, they were to be expected.

Salisu Mohammed. 6/10.
The A.S Monaco defender looked more composed than his previous outings for Ghana. On occasions when he did not win the first ball, he was athletic enough to recover and kill the attack in its wake.

Alexander Djiku. 8/10.

Djiku was excellent last night
Djiku has had many great games but today was different. Special, even.
On the occasions where the Malians breached Ghana's rear, Djiku was on hand to remedy things, often with a last-ditch tackle.
His proactiveness was why, although Salis Abdul Samed offered nothing in defense, Mali did not find joy when they tried to stroll through Ghana's midfield. Djiku's excellent positioning meant he could step out of the backline to make interceptions in the middle while staying within a reasonable distance of his mates in defense.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of today's performance was the sign of cohesiveness. He appears to have a good rapport with Salisu Mohammed and when Abdul Mumin came on, he had a similar understanding with him, too.

Alidu Seidu. 5/10.
This was a throwback to the credible, no-nonsense performances before and during the 2022 World Cup.
Alidu's positioning made it possible for him to make last-ditch tackles.
However, his passing and decision-making still need some work.

Tariq Lamptey. 7/10.
Operating in his natural habitat, Lamptey was one of the reasons it made sense to go with wing-backs.
His pace allowed Ghana to switch from defense to attack with intensity, without necessarily needing to create momentum.

Thomas Partey. 9/10.

Partey was in imperious form in the Group I encounter
Forgive my French but Thomas Party was bloody good last night.
Free from the shackles of injury, Partey played with enthusiasm and passion not seen in a while. Abdul Samed's shocking display is what makes Partey's performance even more impressive. He covered more ground than he would have liked and on many occasions, made interceptions while Samed sleep-walked his way around despite being closer to the action.
When on the ball, Partey's excellent pass selection and press resistance allowed Ghana to breathe and were the foundation to start attacks.
Otto Addo needs big characters to step up if his rebuild is going to work and Thomas Partey has led the way.

Salis Abdul Samed 5/10.
But for the cross - and it was a peach of a cross, that created Ghana's first goal, Salis offered nothing worth mentioning.
He appeared nonchalant and did not offer the protection the backline needed. For a holding midfielder, it is criminal how often he fails to anticipate and react to dangerous situations.

Ernest Nuamah. 5/10.
A brilliant goal. Nothing else before or after that.
It is not clear why Otto Addo persists with this Ernest Nuamah at center forward experiment. Nuamah is simply not equipped to play that role satisfactorily. That is why he looked lost in the role against Nigeria and Uganda in March, and last night against Mali.

Antoine Semenyo. 5/10.
He offered Ghana an outlet to attack but nothing more. A more clinical striker scores at least one of the four clear-cut chances he had on the night.

Mohammed Kudus. 5/10.
When he drifted wide and stayed closer to the box, he looked more comfortable threatening. In one of such moments, Kudus drifted to the right and took two defenders with him. That created the space for Salis to send the decisive cross that produced the goal.
If Otto Addo's idea was to use him as a binding agent or its equivalent, last night was proof that Kudus is not a number ten of any kind. Hopefully, we do not see it again.

Substitutes.

Abdul Mumin. 6/10.
Mumin's timely introduction stopped the leak down the right side of Ghana's defense. He won all duels with Dorgeles who was creating problems for Ghana before then.

Jordan Ayew. 8/10.

Jordan Ayew wheels away in celebration, after scoring the winner, as Osman Bukari and teammates try to catch up
What a cameo! In eleven minutes, Jordan was the antithesis to everything Semenyo had been on the pitch - productive.
He combined well with teammates and ultimately created one big chance for Partey before scoring the winner.
Last night was Jordan's fifth goal in his last six appearances for Ghana.
In all, the Crystal Palace striker has scored 25 goals in 103 appearances for Ghana.

Elisha Owusu. 5/10.
Calm and composed.

Ibrahim Sulemana. 5/10.
He was okay.

Abdul Fatawu Issahaku. 6/10.
His persistence forced the error that led to the match-winner.