Football in Mali traces its organised roots to the early 20th century, when the French introduced the game to what was then French Soudan. The first leagues open to African players appeared in the 1930s, and by the late 1940s clubs such as Foyer du Soudan (later Djoliba AC) and JA du Soudan were competing in the French West African Cup as well as local Bamako competitions.
At independence in 1960, the government reorganised domestic football, merging several clubs to create the dominant forces that still shape Malian football today. Two Bamako clubs fused to become Djoliba Athletic Club and Stade Malien de Bamako, and the rivalry between them — along with AS Real Bamako — has defined the domestic game ever since. Stade Malien became the first Malian club to reach the final of the African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1964–65, while AS Real Bamako produced the legendary Salif Keita, who went on to win the African Footballer of the Year award in 1970 at AS Saint-Étienne — the first Malian to receive that honour.
Every top-division league title since 1966 has been claimed by one of these three Bamako clubs, underlining the stranglehold the capital holds over Malian club football. The national profile of the sport surged when Mali hosted the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, elevating football to something close to a national obsession. Players such as Jean Tigana, Frédéric Kanouté, Mahamadou Diarra, and Seydou Keita continued the tradition of Malian talent thriving in European leagues. Today, football remains by far the most popular sport in Mali, played from formal pitches in every sizeable town to informal pickup games among children.