AFCON: ECOWAS Turncoats Mali, Burkina Faso Battle For Q-Final Ticket

BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI – For Mali and Burkina Faso, their good neighbourliness in collaborating to quit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will certainly not be on the table as they go broke seeking a quarter-final berth in this year’s AFCON tournament in Ivory Coast.

And for Korhogo’s Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium, its hosting of matches in the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations tagged ‘Cote d’Ivoire 2023’  will come to a close today, Tuesday, 30th January, with a blockbuster fixture between the Malian Eagles and the Stallions of Burkina Faso at 17h00 GMT.

Separated by a mere 650km distance, the recent flowery partnership of the Juntas ruling both neighbours will be shoved aside by their players seeking to produce fireworks, and yearning for continental glory having fallen short on two separate occasions.

Having come agonizingly close to lifting the title in 2013, the Stallions, who finished second behind Angola in Group D, are set to go all their way despite having a jittery start to the tournament. Their journey into the last-16 stage was not easy as they sweated for a victory over Mauritania whom they edged 1-0 in their opener before a 2-2 stand-off against Algeria in their second fixture.

Though the Burkinabes were further beaten 2-0 by Angola in their final group match, this did not negatively impact their progression as their four (4) points were enough to see them advance to the next round.

On the other hand, the Malian Eagles lived up to the high expectations in Group E. After a strong opening in which they soared over Bafana Bafana by 2-0, the Eagles seemed to have let the foot off the pedal in their last two Group matches, playing out to a 1-1 draw with Tunisia and being held to a goalless draw by the Brave Warriors of Namibia

For today, the Eagles’ ace, Yves Bissouma, who is yet to stamp his authority in the competition, is expected to come to the party, while Stallions’ Bertrand Traore will be the key figure for his side.

Interesting Facts:

• Both Burkina Faso and Mali are making their 13th TotalEnergies CAF AFCON appearance.
• Both nations have lost a TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Final.

Burkina Faso
In their previous 12 appearances, they have either been eliminated in the group stages (8 times) or at least reached the semi-finals (4 times) including the final defeat in 2013 (0 – 1 Nigeria).

Mali
This is Mali’s 13th appearance and 9th in a row. No side has ever played as many games as Mali (54) at the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON without ever winning the trophy. Their best performance dates back to 1972 when they lost 3-2 in the final against Congo. – With agency reports