Hat-trick hero Doumbia hailed as Mali hit the heights

Mali U17 striker Mamadou Doumbia hailed by team-mate as 'our Erling Haaland' after stunning opening-game performance.

• Mamadou Doumbia was the hero of Mali’s opening U-17 World Cup match

• The Black Stars FC striker bagged a hat-trick in a 3-0 Uzbekistan

• FIFA spoke to Doumbia and some of his team-mates after the match

Mali have already enjoyed plenty of success at the FIFA U-17 World Cup™ in the past, but no-one had ever scored a hat-trick for them. Mamadou Doumbia changed that particular stat on Friday 10 November 2023 with an incredible performance in the 3-0 win over Uzbekistan.

The Eaglet soared high above the rest, scoring all three goals in his team’s opening match in Surakarta to deservedly come away with the player-of-the-match award. "I’m just really happy to have helped my team to victory," he said to FIFA after the final whistle. “It was our opening game so it was really important.”

While he seemed a little intimidated by the throng of journalists keen to get a quote or two from him after the match, the Black Stars FC forward certainly did not look overawed when he was out on the pitch at the Manahan Stadium. "He’s our Erling Haaland," said team-mate Ange Martial Tia. "He can do it all. He’s big so he’s good in the air, but he’s also very quick for his height, particularly over distance. He helps us in so many ways."

The Eaglets dominated the match, and the towering striker made the most of the opportunities created by his team-mates, following on from the recent U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, where he helped Mali reach the semi-final with four goals in five games. "The AFCON was different – this is the World Cup and you can sense that it’s on another level," Doumbia said. "The organisation’s different, so’s the atmosphere. You can feel a real attention to detail."

With a forward in such a rich vein of form right at the start of the tournament, Mali can begin to look ahead, with a spot in the round of 16 already within their grasp.

After the match, Doumbia’s team-mates were fulsome in their praise of the striker.

"He’s been so effective ever since the Africa Cup of Nations and that’s exactly what we need," said captain Ibrahim Diarra. "If he continues like this, it’ll really help us for the rest of the competition. He’s such a good attacker."

Noah Salif Leintu is particularly close to the hat-trick hero as he shares a room with him in Indonesia – and also came off the bench to replace him late on. "We’re the two strikers in the team so we talk a lot about things," he said, before adding: "I’m so proud of him. We’re going to carry on motivating him and if he can maintain his confidence levels, I’m sure he’ll score more."

The Mali No9 added: "Mamadou a great room-mate to have and if you ask him, I reckon he’ll say that I’m the worst one in the room! We always talk a lot and he’s someone who’s nice to chat with. And on the pitch, you don’t often see someone as big as him with such a good touch."

If he keeps on finding the back of the net, Doumbia will have to be careful with his goal celebrations after his knee got stuck awkwardly and painfully in the turf as he enjoyed the third of his goals against Uzbekistan. "I wanted to celebrate and I didn’t have the right take-off point, but at least I didn’t injure myself,” he explained with a sheepish grin.

All of Mali will be relieved that he came out of that episode unscathed. With a striker like Doumbia on such fine form, the Eaglets will be looking to go deep in Indonesia.

Credit: FIFA