Burkina Faso vs Central African Republic

Ranked as low as 202 on the FIFA World Ranking, the rise of football in the Central African Republic can be summed up in one word: meteoric. Now, the country is on the cusp of making history, as Burkina Faso stand in the way of a historic berth at the 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Prior to qualifying for AFCON 2012, the Central African Republic had not played a game since defeated Chad in 2007. Even more startling, Central African Republic was considered one of Africa’s weakest teams. More often, the country either withdrew or was disqualified from major tournaments.  

However, Central African Republic made waves in the ranking. Since July 2010,  despite only scoring five goals in six AFCON 2012 qualifiers, Central African Republic managed to hold group winners Morocco to two scoreless draws. Charlie Dopekoulouyen and Hilaire Momi scored twice in a shocking 2-0 home victory against Algeria. The duo would repeat the feat in a dramatic 2-1 victory at home against Tanzania. Despite missing out on AFCON 2012, the country finished second in the group, ahead of Algeria and Tanzania.

Burkina Faso, on the other hand, is looking to reach AFCON for the 8^th time since 1996. Since then, Burkina Faso has only reached the knockout stages once, finishing fourth at AFCON 1998, the last tournament Burkina Faso hosted. The country disappointed at AFCON 2012, losing all three group stages games.

Their main players have contributed for Burkina Faso, even as youth players. None provided more experience than Saidou Panandetiguiri, who played in both FIFA Under-17 and Under-21 World Cups. In 2001, Panandetiguiri was a member of Burkina Faso’s U-17 team that defeated Spain in the group stage, en route to a third-place finish in the tournament, as well as Round of 16 finish in the 2003 U-21 World Cup.

Moumouni Dagano helped Burkina Faso reach AFCON 2010 (which doubled with that of the World Cup). Dagano led all scorers in African qualifying with 12 goals, including a hat trick in Seychelles o go along with goals against Malawi, Burundi and Guinea to reach AFCON 2010. Now, Dagano and veterans are hoping the experience will help Burkina Faso reach AFCON 2013.

The teams have last met in qualifying for AFCON 2004. Burkina Faso won both games en route to reaching AFCON 2004, winning at home 2-1 on October 13, 2002 and on the road 3-0 on July 6, 2003. Both nations were scheduled to have met in the first round in qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but Central African Republic withdrew from the tournament.

Following its three losses at AFCON 2012, Burkina Faso lost at Morocco 2-0 and tied Benin in Ouagadougou 2-2. The country began its World Cup qualifying campaign with a scoreless draw at home to Congo and a 1-0 loss in Gabon. After losing its last AFCON 2012 qualifier to Algeria, Central African Republic was given a daunting task: defeat Egypt. However, Central African Republic scored a shocking 3-2 victory in Egypt. Two weeks later, Central African Republic sent Egypt out crashing with a 1-1 draw.

Central African Republic may have withdrawn previous meetings. But with history to be made, will Central African Republic upset the odds again? The answer will come in October.