Côte d’Ivoire vs Burkina Faso: Reigning Champions Look to Tame Troublesome Stallions

by Geoffrey Ejiga | by Geoffrey Ejiga

image Côte d’Ivoire vs Burkina Faso: Reigning Champions Look to Tame Troublesome Stallions
Côte d’Ivoire’s AFCON title defence is off to a great start after beating Mozambique and Gabon, with a draw against Cameroon in Group F. The Elephants finished in first place, but earned a not-so-favourable draw against Burkina Faso, the Group E runner-ups. The Stallions won two of three group games and only lost 1-0 to Algeria in a game where Burkina had more shots and missed three big chances. The question now is, can Côte d’Ivoire overcome Burkina, or is this the end of the road for the champions?

Tricky RO16 Matchup for Reigning Champions in Morocco

As expected from Côte d’Ivoire, who beat Nigeria 2-1 to lift the previous title, they’ve reached the RO16 of the 2025 African Cup of Nations edition still unbeaten. The Elephant’s campaign began with a cool 1-0 win over Mozambique that could’ve easily ended 4-0 or more, but for five missed big chances.

The second Group F game against Cameroon was the real challenge, but after a well-contested 90 minutes, it ended 1-1. The final group game was the most dramatic of all, as Côte d’Ivoire managed to overturn a 2-0 deficit to Gabon and win the game 3-2 thanks to a 90+1 minute winner. Their efforts in a somewhat chaotic group stage earned them 7 points (same as Cameroon), but they secured top spot based on goals scored.

That first-place finish saw them avert a matchup between South Africa in the RO16. However, Burkina Faso is arguably an equally tricky matchup for the champions. That’s because Burkina not only won two of three games in the group stage, but has now won a staggering 12 of their last 15 senior team games.

The Stallions' only defeats were to Algeria in the AFCON group stage and Tunisia in a friendly. The only other game Burkina didn’t win was a 0-0 draw to Egypt in the CAF WC qualification. To also underline just how good Burkina Faso has been lately, they finished 2nd in that WC Group A with Egypt, losing only one game and scoring the most goals (23 in 10 games).

Although they finished just five points behind Egypt, Burkina only failed to book a place in the 2026 WC due to the tiebreaker rules. It’s going to be anything but easy for Côte d’Ivoire and punters betting on this game. Thankfully, our experts have all the insights into the outcome of this game in the Côte d’Ivoire vs Burkina Faso prediction.

Côte d’Ivoire vs Burkina Faso: Key Players to Watch For

Côte d’Ivoire has a lot of options up front, but the man they’ll be looking to will be Amad Diallo. He is The Elephants' highest-rated player of the tournament, after scoring the only goal in their opening win against Mozambique, and then also the only goal in Côte d’Ivoire’s draw with Cameroon.

With qualification already secured after Gabon’s Round 2 exit, Côte d’Ivoire rested Diallo in the final game and brought him on for only the final 14 minutes. While Diallo didn’t get on the scoresheet, his presence helped Côte d’Ivoire score the equalizer and winner in the final game.

For The Stallions, finding ways to unlock Brentford’s Dango Ouattara will likely be central to their game plan. Ouattara is still goalless, but is the only player to record 2+ goal contributions for Burkina Faso in this tournament. Interestingly, the four goals in this tournament for Burkina came from two defenders, one midfielder, and a forward.

Those two defenders, Arsene Kouassi and Edmond Tapsoba, are also SofaScore’s highest-rated players for Burkina, and are the reason why The Stallions have conceded just as few goals (3) as champions Côte d’Ivoire.