The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will conduct the draw for the 35th edition of the biennial African football tournament at the renowned Mohammed V National Theatre in Rabat on Monday.
At the event, the 24 qualified nations will discover their group placements as they are drawn into six groups, all aiming to dethrone the reigning African champions, Cote d'Ivoire.
Ahead of the draw ceremony, the experienced Belgian coach stated that he would be satisfied with any team assigned to his star-studded West African squad.
“To be honest, I have no expectations. When I was in the previous job (Gambia national team) we really had an idea of who we want to play or not,” Saintfiet told Flashscore.
"Now with Mali, I think we have a good team, we have a strong team and sometimes it's playing against strong teams, it's easier to motivate the players.
"I don't think there are weak teams, every team is a good team. Maybe on paper teams like Botswana and Zimbabwe look easier, but sometimes the motivation of players.
"The focus of players is less when you play against them. So for me, I have no expectations.
"I will look against who we play and afterwards we will prepare it, but I'm ready for every opponent."
Before taking over the Eagles of Mali, Saintfiet had managed Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi, Togo, and Gambia - a team he coached from 2018 to 2024, leading them to the 2021 and 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Belgian, renowned for transforming lesser-known teams into formidable forces, reflects on his time as coach of Gambia and shares what coaching in Africa means to him.
"First of all, I've been in Africa since 2008 as a national team coach, and I absolutely love the continent. I’m married to an African woman and have a beautiful eight-year-old daughter, so I consider myself truly African,” he continued.
"I’m also honoured and proud to hold a Gambian passport, which I received from the Gambian government.
"For me, Africa is a beautiful continent. There's so much potential. The people love football, there's so much quality and my aim is always to go to the World Cup and write history there.
"In the past, I never had the opportunity to work with countries who are probably able to do that.
"My time in Gambia was fantastic. I had the support of an excellent federation, a great staff, and a top-notch team manager. The players were eager to develop and had a lot of quality.
"Together, we made history by reaching the quarter-finals in Cameroon and even finishing sixth in Africa, despite being a small country."
Mali's journey in the 2024 AFCON, hosted by Cote d'Ivoire, ended in the quarter-finals.
Despite showing strong performances, they were eliminated at that stage as they continued their pursuit of a first-ever African title.
Asked about his target in Morocco, Saintfiet added: "We really want to go to Africa to play seven matches. Seven matches, it means the final or the loser of the final and the federation already said that we want to reach the semi-final and that's also my ambition and the other goal is still to qualify for the World Cup.
"We are not in a good position right now because we are four points behind Comoros and Ghana, two points behind Madagascar.
“We have only two home games left and four away games, but I still believe in the quality of my team and we're going to develop the team. I'm now a few months there.”
Saintfiet started his coaching career in the 1997/1998 season, shortly after retiring from playing. FC Zammel, a club in his home country, gave him his first coaching opportunity, where he stayed for just one season.
His first experience in Africa came in 2000 when he joined Satellite d'Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire.
