January 17, (THEWILL) – Despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Ethiopia in their Group A finale, Burkina Faso has qualified for the last 16 of the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Burkina Faso, who were finalists in 2013, did not appear to be threatening to go that far based on the evidence of their display and the Ethiopians were unfortunate not to have taken all three points.
In the 10th minute, Ethiopia’s Getaneh Kebede’s bending effort was stopped out of the top-left corner by Sofiane Ouedraogo.
They had four shots on target in the first half, but Burkina Faso was the team to that opened the scoring, with Cyrille Bayala lofting the ball over Teklemariam Shanko in the 24th minute after latching on to Adama Guira’s wonderfully chipped assist.
Kebede was again denied, this time from close range, by Ouedraogo later in the match. However, he eventually received his reward though from the penalty spot.
The VAR ruled that Steeve Yago handled a free-kick in the area, and Kebede calmly stroked the ball into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards seven minutes later.
But the draw was enough to send Burkina Faso through, as group winners Cameroon drew 1-1 with Cape Verde, whom they had beaten in their previous match. Ethiopia’s sole AFCON appearance since 1982 has resulted in a single point for the country so far and is insufficient to make a difference.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
