Hosts through to U-17 AFCON final

by Staff Reporter

Wednesday Apr 16, 2025. 11:00

Title favourites Burkina Faso fell at the penultimate hurdle on Tuesday as they missed out on the chance to dash host nation Morocco’s dream of winning the 2025 U-17 African Cup of Nations.

Burkina Faso’s 100 per cent record at the tournament finally came to an end with a 2-0 defeat to Mali in the early kick-off at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca.

Goals in each half from Soumaila Fane (42′) and Mahamadou Traore (74′) saw the Eagles reach the final for the fourth time, leaving the Little Stallions to fight it out with Ivory Coast for third place.

Morocco failed to score for the second time at the 15th edition and they needed penalties to overcome Ivory Coast following a 0-0 draw at the El Bachir Stadium in Mohammedia.

The Little Elephants had converted all five of their spot-kicks to beat Senegal in the quarter-finals, but Yannis Touali, Vaboue Doumbia and Vasseri Sylla all missed on this occasion as the Atlas Lions won 5-3 in the shootout, with Ahmed Mouhoub slotting home the deciding penalty.

Tuesday’s semi-final results:

Burkina Faso 0-2 Mali

Morocco 0-0 Ivory Coast (4-3 on pens)