The Algerian national football team wants to secure its qualification to the round of 16 in the 2025 African Cup of Nations, this evening, Sunday, when it faces its counterpart, the Burkinabe, for the second round of the fifth group of the first round of the competition hosted by Morocco, from December 21 until next January 18.
After a perfect start it materialized in Big win Against the Sudanese national team (3-0), last Wednesday, it is expected that the “Greens” will confirm their determination to confirm this strong start and get closer to the round of 16, which they failed to reach during the previous two leagues, “Cannes 2021” in Cameroon and “Cannes 2023” in Côte d’Ivoire.
All indicators look positive for captain Riyad Mahrez’s teammates, who are looking forward to achieving a second successive victory in order to ensure qualification before the final match of the group stage scheduled for next Wednesday against Equatorial Guinea.
But despite the optimism that follows National lineupHowever, Algeria national team coach, Vladimir Petkovic, warned of the difficulty of the mission. He confirmed this during the press conference he held yesterday, Saturday, when he said: “The Burkina Faso national team is an organized and physically strong team, and its players have been playing together for a long time, which gives them clear harmony on the field. I think it will be a difficult match and we must be prepared for it mentally.”
He explained Petkovic “The Burkina Faso team is difficult and plays with close lines and was able to win the first match, and it is the most prominent candidate to qualify from our group.”
In terms of personnel, the Swiss coach has a complete squad, as no player is suffering from injury, and all the starters and reserves are ready for this decisive confrontation, scheduled for 18:30 Algerian time, and the French “Paris FC” defender, Samir Chergui, has returned to the group’s atmosphere after recovering from the injury, to remain at the disposal of the technical staff.
From a tactical standpoint, some adjustments are expected to be made to the national lineup, especially at the midfield level, while maintaining a balance between defensive solidity and offensive vitality.
A great club between the Algerian and Burkina Faso teams
For its part, the Burkina Faso national team also achieved a successful start in the “Cannes 2025” finals, albeit a more exciting one, after snatching a stoppage-time victory against Equatorial Guinea with a score of (2-1) after being defeated (1-0). This is a victory that allowed Edmond Tapsoba’s teammates (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany) to enter the competition in an ideal manner and enter the confrontation against Algeria with great confidence and ambition.
At the level of direct confrontations, the companions of the brilliant goalkeeper Luca Zidane will have to deal with a somewhat unsatisfactory record, as the Algerian national team has not achieved any victory in its last three matches with the Burkina Faso national team in various competitions, a series that reflects the difficulty of this date. The last confrontation between the two teams dates back to the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations finals, which were held in Côte d’Ivoire, where they ended in a draw (2-2) at the “Al Salam” Stadium in the city of Bouaké, in new evidence of the parity between the two formations and the strength that characterizes this match.
Burkina Faso’s coach, Bramah Traoré, alluded to this distinguished club when he said in his press conference, yesterday, Saturday: “The meeting with Algeria is renewed every time, and in this competition, the previous matches were strong and great, and there are certainly sparks in the air.”
The Burkina Faso coach pointed out that “preparation for today’s match was serious, considering that the two teams’ knowledge of each other reduces the element of surprise: “We prepared well for Algeria. There is no special plan for the opponent. It is a match that brings together two teams that know each other well.” In the other match in the fifth group, the teams of Equatorial Guinea and Sudan will meet today, Sunday (16:00), in a confrontation in which the two sides seek to revive their chances of qualifying for the second round of the continental competition.
It is worth noting that the two teams that occupy first and second places from each group qualify for the quarter-finals. This is in addition to the four best teams in third place in the six groups.
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