Burkina Faso fails to qualify for Afcon for the first time in 9 years
22nd March 2019
Burkina Faso will not be at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt after failing to qualify for their sixth straight major tournament.
The Stallions ended their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on a positive note with a slender 1-0 win over Mauritania in a Group I match at the Stade du 4 Août on Friday night.
But their 1-0 win over, the already qualified, Mauritania was not enough for the Stallions to qualify for the finals.
The win did not qualify them for the tournament proper after finishing third in Group I with ten points.
They needed a win and hope Angola lose or draw against Botswana in the other group match.
But the Palancas Negras won by 1-0 to join Mauritania at the 32nd edition of the biennial tournament.
Burkina Faso got the win that they needed to have any chance of reaching the finals thanks to a goal from Lyon's former Chelsea forward Bertrand Traore after 19 minutes.
His goal Burkina Faso their third win of the campaign.
They then had to endure a 20 minute hoping for a Botswana equaliser which never came, that would have have seen them qualify for the finals.
Mauritania still qualified for Afcon later this year after finishing second with 12 points, behind Angola (also on 12 points) who beat Botswana 1-0 also on Friday night.
Botswana finished bottom of the standings on one point after five losses and one draw in a disastrous qualifying campaign.
The loss for Mauritania was their second in Group I and saw them throw away the chance to finish top of the standings.
Burkina Faso (1) 1 (B Traore 19’)
Mauritania (0) 0
Starting line-ups
Burkina Faso: Koffi, Kone, Yago, Bayala, Coulibaly, B Traore, Guira, Dayo, Abdou Traore, Nakoulma, Pitroipa.
Mauritania: Diallo, Diaw, Sarr, Abou Demba, Abeid, El Hacen, Guidileye, Diakite, Ba, Gaye.