Burkina Faso U23

The current cycle running through the qualifiers for Egypt 2027 has given Burkina Faso's under-23s a draw against Sierra Leone U23. Two years ago the team went further before stopping: in the 2023 qualifiers it beat The Gambia U23 2-1 in the second leg, overturning a 1-0 deficit from the first, only to be knocked out by Senegal U23 in the round that followed.

Senegal keeps turning up in this team's story. The senior rivalry with Mali and Senegal, sharpened into what is called the West African Derby against the latter, has its echo at this level too: it was Senegal who beat Burkina Faso in the final of the 2015 All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, after the Stallions had needed a drawing of lots just to get past Sudan on identical points. Four years later, in Rabat, the team settled an old score of sorts by winning the country's first gold at the African Games, beating Nigeria 2-0 in the final of 2019.

Issa Balboné took over as head coach in April 2024, an appointment that also has him running the CHAN side and assisting Brama Traoré with the senior team — three jobs that keep him moving between age groups within the same set-up.

The side plays under the same badge and colours as the senior national team, red and green drawn from the flag adopted in 1984, and answers to the same nickname, Les Étalons, after Princess Yennenga's horse in Burkinabé folklore. It has also supplied that senior team with players: Bertrand Traoré came up through the youth ranks before making his senior debut in 2012 and going on to captain the side after spells at Chelsea, Ajax, Lyon, Aston Villa and Wolves. The team itself was set up in 1991, formed to give players under 23 a route through international football before they were ready for that senior shirt.