The Burkina Faso national football team, is the national team of Burkina Faso and is controlled by the Burkinabé Football Federation. They were known as the Upper Volta national football team until 1984, when Upper Volta became Burkina Faso. They finished fourth in the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations, when they hosted the tournament. Their best ever finish in the tournament was the 2013 edition, reaching the final.
The Gabon national football team, nicknamed Les Panthères or Les Brésiliens, is the national team of Gabon and is controlled by the Gabonese Football Federation. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but have qualified seven times for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Mauritania national football team nicknamed Al-Murabitun in reference to Almoravid dynasty, is the national team of Mauritania and is controlled by the Fédération de Football de la République Islamique de Mauritanie and is a member of the Confederation of African Football. They have not qualified for the FIFA World Cup. However, in the Amilcar Cabral Cup, a regional tournament for West Africa, Mauritania came fourth in 1980 on hosting the competition. The national football team of Mauritania were later runners-up in 1995, losing on penalties to Sierra Leone after the final finished 0–0. On 18 November 2018, Mauritania qualified to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in their history, after they won 2–1 against Botswana.
Philippe Omar Troussier is a French former professional footballer and current manager.
Otto Martin Pfister is a German football manager and one of Germany's most successful coaching exports, voted Africa's Manager of the Year in 1992. He is formerly the manager of the Afghanistan national team.
The Republic of Upper Volta competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. This was the first and only time the country participated under that name at the Olympic Games. However, the first Upper Voltan athletes took part in the Olympics at the 1924 Games as part of the French contingent. André Bicaba was the only athlete representing Upper Volta in 1972, who participated in the men's 100 metres but did not progress past his heat. Upper Volta initially sought to send athletes to the 1976 Summer Olympics, but boycotted it with other Africa nations. By the time it returned to the Games in 1988, the nation was known as Burkina Faso.
Aristide Bancé is a Burkinabé footballer plays as a striker for US des Forces Armées and the Burkina Faso national team.
Paulo Jorge Rebelo Duarte is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a central defender, and is the manager of Burkina Faso.
The Equatorial Guinea women's national football team is the women's national team for Equatorial Guinea. Their nickname is the Nzalang Nacional.
Football is the most popular sport in Burkina Faso. And the national association can look back on recent developments with a great deal of pride. Reaching the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations on home soil in 1998, qualifying for the FIFA World Youth Championship in the UAE in 2003, and appearances at two final competitions of the CAF U-17 Cup, as well as third place at the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Trinidad & Tobago in 2001 are Burkina Fasos outstanding achievements at international level. The nations most famous players include Kassoum Ouegraogo, nicknamed Zico, who had his most successful seasons with Espérance de Tunis before ending his career in Germany, Siaka Ouattara, who spent his entire career with Mulhouse in France, and Moumouni Dagano, who was voted best African player in Belgium in 2001, when he played for the Belgian side Genk. He later went on to play for the French side Guingamp before transferring to another French team, FC Sochaux in 2005. Burkina Faso received an unexpected free pass into the group stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification process, when their opening round contestant, the Central African Republic, withdrew from the competition. This gave the West Africans, who were at that stage ranked 14th on the continent, the certainty that their name would be in the hat when the Preliminary Draw for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany was made. They got off to a flying start, beating Ghana 1-0 in their opening match and laying down a marker for their Group 2 adversaries South Africa, Cape Verde Islands, Congo DR and Uganda. The victory train began to come off the rails with two defeats to Cape Verde, and with a record of two wins and three losses, Burkina Faso were up against it at the half-way stage. Frenchman Bernard Simondi took over the coaching reins from Ivica Todorov and made the team harder to beat at home, even recording wins over South Africa and Congo DR, but in the end it was not quite enough, and the likes of Abdoulaye Cisse, Moumouni Dagano, and Wilfred Sanou went no further in the competition.
Sport in Burkina Faso is widespread and includes football, basketball, cycling, rugby union, handball, tennis, athletics, boxing and martial arts.
Bertrand Isidore Traoré is a Burkinabé professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Lyon and the Burkina Faso national team.
The Burkina Faso national basketball team is the national basketball team of Burkina Faso, governed by the Fédération Burkinabe de Basketball.
Issoufou Dayo is a Burkina Faso professional footballer, who plays as a defender for Nahdat Berkane and the Burkina Faso national football team.
The 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations was the 2nd edition of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, the quadrennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the men's under-23 national teams of Africa. The tournament started on 28 November and finished on 12 December 2015. A total of eight teams are playing in the tournament.
Portia Boakye is a Ghanaian international footballer who plays as a forward /defender for Djurgårdens IF in Sweden. She is regarded as one of the best left-footed players on the Africa continent.
Burkina Faso competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's ninth appearance at the Summer Olympics, having participated since the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich under the name Upper Volta.
Kouakou Hervé Koffi is a Burkinabe footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for French club Lille and the Burkina Faso national football team.
The 2017 Annual King's Cup Football Tournament, commonly referred to as 2017 King's Cup, was the 45th King's Cup, the annual international men's football tournament organised by Football Association of Thailand. It was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 14 to 16 July 2017.
Salimata Simporé is a Burkinabé footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Burkina Faso women's national football team.
