Burkina Faso fought back with a four-goal comeback to stun Ivory Coast and win Group B on Saturday at the 2022 WAFU-B U-17 Championship, winning 4-2 to set up a semifinal matchup against hosts Ghana on Tuesday. Man of the Match Ousmane Camara scored the equalizer and the match winner as Les Étalons scored all four of their goals in the final thirty minutes of the match. Despite the defeat Ivory Coast are through to the semifinals as well with a matchup against Nigeria following Niger’s 3-1 victory over Benin in the other Group B match on Saturday.
It was a dream start for the Ivorians when Daouda Soro converted a penalty kick to open the scoring within six minutes but the Burkinabé side kept pushing throughout. Camara was denied by an excellent save from Ivory Coast goalkeeper Ulrich Okpo in the 56th minute and Les Éléphanteaux looked like they were on their way to victory after Abdoulaye Doumbia’s low shot snuck by Burkinabé keeper Isidore Traoré.
But Burkina Faso were brought back to life by a cracking long range strike from captain Sié Farouko Ouattara in the 67th minute, setting the stage for an Ivorian meltdown. Camara got behind the defense once again and was fortunate to keep the ball at his feet after Okpo got a touch, allowing Camara to finish between the legs of an Ivorian defender in the 78th minute.
Only a couple of minutes later Camara had only an empty net to shoot into for his second when the Ivorian defense was breached once again. A poor giveaway in second half stoppage time saw Camara win the ball and set up Farouz Ouédraogo for the final goal on his way to a second Man of the Match performance.
Highlights are below.
