Ten-man Mali rode their luck to beat Tunisia 3-2 on penalties and reach the quarter-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (BBC.co.uk Jan 4 2026)
This is how the BBC described Mali's win over Tunisia in their last-16 AFCON (2025) tie.
To ride their luck means that a team could have lost the game on many occasions but still ended up winning (or drawing) the game. In this game Mali had a player sent off in the first half and then conceded in the 88th minute. They then scored a penalty in the 96th minute to equalise and hung on to win on penalties - they even missed their first spot kick!
They definitely rode their luck!
Here is some more information on the phrase 'ride their luck'
https://learnenglishthroughfootball.com/weekly-fpptball-phrase-ride-luck/
