The African Cup continues in Ivory Coast. Burkina Faso faces Mauritania, in Bouaké, for the first day of Group D of CAN 2024. A meeting to follow live from 3 p.m. Paris time, on France24.com.
Published on: 01/16/2024 – 00:00
2 mn
The Stallions enter the ring. Hubert Velud’s Burkina Faso plays its first match of CAN 2024 on Tuesday January 16 in Bouaké against Mauritania, a team which is gaining strength on the continent but which is still looking for its first victory.
A meeting to follow on our live commentary from 3 p.m. Paris time.
With Algeria, which entered the competition on Monday, Burkina Faso coached by Frenchman Hubert Velud is also the favorite of group D. The Étalons, very regular in Africa over the last decade, have played in the semi-finals of three of the five latest CAN.
The 2022 team, which reached the last four, has changed little, even if Bertrand Traoré and Dango Ouattara have some physical problems. The man in form is defender Edmond Tapsoba, who is shining in the Bundesliga
Mauritania seems a step below but the Mourabitounes are making constant progress: they who did not know the CAN before 2019 are playing their third tournament in a row.
After the major development work carried out over seven years (2014-2021) by Corentin Martins, the selection is now in the hands of Amir Abdou, the architect of the Comoros from 2014 to 2022, who had brought his small country into the round of 16 from his first CAN.
The collective is therefore solid, even if Mauritania lacks a star. Perhaps his best individuality is Aboubakar Kamara, nicknamed AK-47, who plays for Al Jazira Abu-Dhabi.
In addition, Mauritania has still not scored a single goal in the game in the final phase of the African Cup. She only managed one penalty, by Moctar Sidi El Hacen, in a 4-1 defeat to Mali in 2019.
