Burkina Faso will be expecting to begin their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a victory when they take on Guinea-Bissau on Friday.
Neither nation has ever qualified for the World Cup, but the expansion of football's most prestigious tournament will likely open the door for several debutants.
Match preview
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However, with nine group winners advancing automatically to the upcoming World Cup in North America, Burkina Faso will already have their sights set on finishing above Egypt in Group A. The four best runners-up will fight for a playoff spot, too, making every point collected vitally important between now and the end of the qualifying campaign.
Burkina Faso have been a force at the Africa Cup of Nations in recent years, finishing as runners-up in 2013 before reaching the semi-finals in 2017 and 2021. As such, they will be hoping to make another strong impact in Ivory Coast in the New Year, but for now their focus will be on giving themselves a strong platform to qualify for their first ever World Cup.
Recent form has been a little patchy, with Hubert Velud ending a winless run of five matches by beating Mauritania in a friendly last month. But with the likes of Dango Ouattara, Bertrand Traore and Edmond Tapsoba competing in Europe's big five leagues, the Stallions possess enough quality and spirit to cause any team problems on their day.
Given that they are ranked 54 places higher than their forthcoming opponents, Velud will certainly be demanding his team to deliver a victory in their opening match in Morocco on Friday, before doing the same away to Ethiopia next week.
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Likewise, Guinea-Bissau have never qualified for a World Cup either, although their first qualification campaign only came when attempting to reach the 1998 World Cup in France after they were confirmed as a FIFA member.
Despite their developmental nature, Guinea-Bissau recently qualified for their fourth successive African Cup of Nations, although they are yet to win a match at Africa's major tournament. In each of their three appearances, they have drawn one match and lost two to crash out at the group stage, so they will be hoping to improve on that record in the New Year.
As the third seeds in Group A, Guinea-Bissau's chances of claiming a top-two spot are clearly slim, but they will travel to Marrakech with plenty of confidence of causing an upset having won three of their last five matches.
One of those victories was a highly impressive 1-0 win away to Nigeria, proving that Baciro Cande's side are capable of competing with the continent's powerhouse nations. The 56-year-old has been in charge of his home nation since 2016, making them one of the most stable teams in the region.
Team News
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Burkina Faso are expected to favour Issa Kabore over Steeve Yago at right-back, as Kabore has produced some excellent form for Luton Town in the English Premier League so far this season. The 22-year-old has earned 32 caps for his country already.
It remains to be seen whether Shakhtar Donetsk forward Lassina Traore can muscle his way back into Velud's plans, though, as the 22-year-old has failed to feature in recent times despite scoring seven goals in 17 caps.
Guinea-Bissau, meanwhile, could hand an international debut to Carlos Mendes Gomes. The 24-year-old was born in Senegal and is a naturalised Spanish citizen having grown up there, but the Bolton Wanderers forward has been called-up for the first time courtesy of family ties to his newly-adopted nation.
Jonas Mendes will almost certainly start in the visitors' goal as their most experienced player with 55 caps, but scoring goals could be an issue with no player in Cande's squad on more than two goals for their nation.
Burkina Faso possible starting lineup:
Koffi; Kabore, Dayot, E Tapsoba, Nouma; Guira, Toure, Aziz Ki; B Traore, L Traore, Ouattara
Guinea-Bissau possible starting lineup:
J Mendes; H Mendes, Sangante, Fernandes, Nanu; Bikel, Gomes; Quizera, Mane, Rodrigues; Dju
We say: Burkina Faso 1-0 Guinea-Bissau
With Egypt clearly favourites to win Group A and automatically qualify for the World Cup as a result, these two nations will be desperate to start positively as they look to cause an upset by finishing above the Pharaohs.
Guinea-Bissau are a very organised team who have improved in recent years, but scoring goals is often an issue for them, so we expect Burkina Faso's attacking firepower to help them record a narrow victory on Friday.
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Top tip
Brett Curtis
