MATCH FACTS: Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso clash for bronze medal at TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025
Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso go head-to-head for the bronze medal at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Morocco 2025 on Friday when they meet at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca (kick-off 20:00 local time; 19:00 GMT).
This games represents the first meeting between Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso at the TotalEnergies CAF U17 AFCON.
Cote d'Ivoire are participating in the third-place play-off match for a third time along with previous participations in 2005 and 2011.
Burkina Faso are also participating in the play-off for third for a third time after they previously featured in this game in 2009 and 2023.
The play-off for third has never previously produced a 0-0 result and only once before in 2013, when Tunisia defeated hosts Morocco, was a penalty shoot-out needed to produce a winner after the game ended 1-1. Tunisia prevailed on penalty kicks, winning 11-10.
Of the previous 13 third-place play-off games, the biggest margin of victory in this game has been by two goals. Nigeria defeated Egypt 3-1 in 2003, and Guinea won 3-1 against Nigeria and Niger in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
The most goals scored in this game was in 2009 when Burkina Faso won 3-2 against Malawi.
Since Tunisia's win over Morocco in 2013, the last four third-place play-off games have produced a winner in open pay.
Guinea won back-to-back games 3-1 in 2015 and 2017, while Angola defeated Nigeria in 2019 by winning 2-1 and Burkina Faso also won 2-1 against Mali at the last finals.
Burkina Faso and the Cote d'Ivoire will both go level with Guinea and Mali on three appearances in the third-place play-off game, the joint most by any team in this game.
This is the fifth time that two West African teams will feature in this fixture. Previously Guinea defeated Mali, Nigeria and Niger in 1995, 2015 and 2017. Burkina Faso defeated Mali in 2023.
BURKINA FASO FACTS
· Burkina Faso lost their semi-final match 2-0 against Mali and have been eliminated at the last-4 stage in two successive finals. Lost to eventual champions Senegal on penalties in 2023.
· They are featuring in the third-place play-off for the second finals in succession and are the second team to do so along with Guinea who did so in 2015 and 2017.
· Should they win, Burkina Faso will have ended third in successive finals, becoming the third team to do so along with Mali in 1999 and 2001, and Guinea in 2015 and 2017.
· Burkina Faso have won both their previous third-place play-off games, defeating Malawi 3-2 in 2009 and Mali 2-1 in 2023.
· On all three occasions that Burkina Faso have featured in the play-off for third, the tournament has been held in North Africa.
· Burkina Faso's two previous third-place play-off games have been decided in open play. These games have produced eight goals with the Burkinabe scoring five and conceding three.
· Burkina Faso are yet to keep a clean-sheet in the play-off for third-place match.
· Burkina Faso have been involved in two penalty shoot-outs at the finals, their 2011 semi-final ended 1-1 before they won on spot kicks 4-2 against Congo, while they lost their semi-final at the 2023 finals after the match finished 1-1, going down 5-4 to Senegal on spot-kicks.
· Victory for Burkina Faso will see them end in the top three for a sixth time. They were winners in 2011, runners-up in 1999 and 2001, and ended third in 2009 and 2023.
· Burkina Faso had two players sent off in their 2-0 loss to Mali in the semi-finals. Ali Kone was shown a second yellow card in the 77th minute with his team already trailing 2-0. Alassana Bagayogo was sent off in second half stoppage time.
· Asharaf Tapsoba of Burkina Faso is the tournament's top scorer with seven goals. He had scored in each of their previous four games before the semi-finals.
· Their loss to Mali ended a five-game winning streak for Burkina Faso at the finals. It also ended an eight-game unbeaten run in open play.
COTE D'IVOIRE FACTS
· Cote d'Ivoire scored ten goals in their three group games at the tournament, but have failed to score in both their knockout games. They beat Angola on penalties in the quarter-finals and lost in a shoot-out to Morocco in the semi-finals. Both games ended 0-0.
· Victory will see Cote d'Ivoire end in the top three at the tournament for a third time along with 2005 and 2013.
· Both of Cote d'Ivoire's previous third-place play-off games have been decided in open play, with them winning one and losing one.
· Previously in the third-place play-off game, Cote d'Ivoire managed a 1-0 win against South Africa in 2005 and a 2-1 defeat to Congo in 2011.
· Cote d'Ivoire have been involved in three penalty shoot-outs before. They won the final in 2013 against Nigeria after a 1-1 draw when they prevailed 5-4 in the shoot-out. At the current finals, 0-0 draws in the quarter-finals and semi-finals against Senegal and hosts Morocco were followed by a 5-3 win and a 4-3 loss in the shoot-out.
· This is the first time Cote d'Ivoire have been involved in back-to-back 0-0 draws at the tournament.
· Cote d'Ivoire have never previously failed to score in three successive games at the same finals.
· Prior to their recent run of successive 0-0 draws, in their previous 24 games at the finals the Cote d'Ivoire had been involved in just three goalless stalemates. These were against Mali in their opening game in 1997, Ghana in their final group game in 2013 and Angola in their second group game at the current finals.
· Their three 0-0 draws at the current finals is the most number of games in a single edition in which the Cote d'Ivoire have failed to score.
· Alynho Haidara is Cote d'Ivoire's top scorer at the current finals with six goals, one behind the tournament's top scorer Asharaf Tapsoba of Burkina Faso. Haidara has scored three goals from the penalty spot.
· Cote d'Ivoire have conceded just three goals at the finals, only Morocco have conceded fewer (two).
· Cote d'Ivoire have kept successive clean-sheets, another one will see them keep three in a row for the first time. They had only once before kept successive clean-sheets prior to their current run, which was in 2013 in their second and third group games, a 1-0 win over Nigeria and a 0-0 draw against Ghana.
· Another clean-sheet for the Cote d'Ivoire will see them keep four clean-sheets at a single edition for the first time.
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