Burkina Faso sail into AFCON as DR Congo keep hope

• Burkina Faso played to a 1-1 draw away to Togo
• DR Congo were also held by Mauritania
• The last round of matches will be played in June

Burkina Faso’s Stallions did just but enough to earn a spot at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, picking a point in a 1-1 draw away to Togo.

The point on enemy territory took the Burkinabes, semi-finalists of the 2021 showpiece to 10- points and top of Group B, three ahead of second placed Cape Verde and eight ahead of third placed eSwatini with two rounds of matches left to play.

Burkina Faso’s head coach Herbert Velud said he dedicated the qualification to the people back home, expressing his joy in booking a slot in Ivory Coast with two matches to spare.

“We did what we needed to do tonight. I would like to dedicate this qualification to the people of Burkina Faso. We are very happy tonight and especially this being the first time that we have qualified with two matches left to play,” the Frenchman stated.

Not only was the tactician impressed with the qualification, but the performance of his team as well.

“We put in a different organization in the game tonight and we showed more control. We knew that Togo would pose problems for us but we managed to contain most of them,” added the coach.

Togo on the other end remain bottom of the group with two points, though with faint hopes of squeezing in.

Visitors score first 

The visitors got into the lead at the Stade de Kegue in Lome, Dango Ouattara reacting quickest to bury the ball into the net after Bertrand Traore’s shot unmarked on the left had come off the bar.

But Togo quickly regrouped and got back on level terms in the 26th minute through Kodjo Laba who turned the ball home after the Burkina keeper had made a save from Thibault Klidje’s long range shot.

In the second half, there was a balance of chances between either side with Laba’s overhead kick from close range going straight to the keeper while Edmond Tapsoba failed to turn a well weighted Gustavo Sangare cross into the net.

Burkina Faso play Cape Verde in a top of the table clash when the qualifiers resume in June while Togo will host eSwatini.

Elsewhere in Nouakchott, 10-man DR Congo held on for a point away from home as they played to a 1-1 draw with hosts Mauritania.

The result leaves Group I wide open with only three points separating leaders Gabon (7) and bottom side Congo (4) with two rounds of matches left.

Mauritania third in the group

Mauritania are third in the group with five points and there will be all to play for heading to the final cluster of fixtures in June.

“We lacked accuracy in the first half but the difficulty of this match will help us grow. We will do everything to win the two matches in June to qualify,” said Mauritania captain Aly Abeid after the match.

Meanwhile, DR Congo head coach Sebastian Desabre was left ruing missed chances.

“We should have scored more goals in the first 30 minutes given the chances we created. We faced a very brave Mauritanian side that did not stop pushing. This is now over and we focus on the next assignments. The match against Gabon will be very decisive and our target is to get to 10 points, and this is by winning both remaining games,” said the Frenchman.