Ivory Coast moved one step closer to defending their Africa Cup of Nations crown after a convincing 3-0 victory over Burkina Faso in the Round of 16. Played at the Stade de Marrakech in Morocco, the win saw the Elephants become the first defending champions since Egypt in 2010 to reach the AFCON quarter-finals.
Coming into the match, Ivory Coast were full of belief after an unbeaten group stage and strong momentum, a theme already highlighted by SoftFootball ahead of the contest. From early on, Ivory Coast looked sharper and more direct.
Burkina Faso did register the first shot on target through Saïdou Simporé, but that effort only seemed to wake the champions up. Amad Diallo soon began to cause serious problems, and in the 20th minute, he broke the deadlock after Evann Guessand powered past Adamo Nagalo and slipped him in.
VAR checked the challenge, but the goal stood. Ivory Coast doubled their lead in the 31st minute when Yan Diomande finished calmly from the centre of the box after Amad’s clever square pass, with Franck Kessié smartly letting the ball run.
Burkina Faso had moments before the break, most notably when Dango Ouattara struck the post, but overall they struggled to cope with Ivory Coast’s intensity. The Stallions had finished second in Group E after beating Sudan, as reported by SoftFootball, yet this felt like a different level.
The second half was more controlled than frantic. Ivory Coast managed the game well, even after Emerse Fae rotated his squad. The contest was finally settled late on when teenager Bazoumana Touré dispossessed Bertrand Traoré and surged from deep before firing into the corner for a stunning solo goal.
CAF shared a celebratory video of Amad Diallo’s 1-0 goal for defending champions Côte d’Ivoire against Burkina Faso on their official X account, with the 23-year-old Manchester United winger being mobbed by his teammates.
Watch the video below:
It was a mature, ruthless display from the Elephants, who had already shown their resilience with a dramatic group-stage comeback against Gabon. Next up is a heavyweight quarter-final clash with Egypt on Saturday, January 10, and suddenly, Ivory Coast’s title defence feels very real again.
