Burkina Faso has terminated the contract of head coach Brama Traore and his entire technical staff following the Stallions’ elimination from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations at the hands of defending champions Ivory Coast, marking yet another coaching casualty in the aftermath of the tournament held in Morocco.
The Burkina Faso Football Federation announced the decision on Wednesday, with federation president Oumarou Sawadogo citing “results well below what was expected of our national team at the continental tournament” as the principal reason for the dismissal.
Sawadogo expressed “bitter disappointment” with the team’s performance and revealed that the federation had set an objective of reaching at least the semi-finals of the competition. The Stallions’ failure to meet that ambitious target, combined with their inability to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, sealed Traore’s fate after less than a year in charge.
The West African nation’s AFCON campaign came to an abrupt end in Marrakesh last Monday when they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by neighbouring Ivory Coast in the knockout stages. Manchester United winger Amad Diallo opened the scoring and provided the assist for Yan Diomande’s second goal before half-time, before substitute Bazoumana Toure added a third to complete a dominant display by the Elephants.
Despite securing victories over Sudan and Equatorial Guinea in the group phase, Burkina Faso also suffered a defeat to Algeria, a result that exposed defensive vulnerabilities and tactical limitations that would later be ruthlessly exploited by Ivory Coast. The defeat to their bitter rivals proved particularly painful given the historical intensity of the football relationship between the two nations and Ivory Coast’s status as reigning continental champions.
Traore, 63, had taken charge of the national team in March 2024, replacing Frenchman Hubert Velud, who was himself dismissed following a last-16 exit at the previous AFCON tournament. The decision to appoint Traore was seen as a return to local coaching expertise after Velud’s tenure failed to deliver the breakthrough the federation had sought.
However, Traore’s brief spell in charge has been defined by inconsistency and an inability to marshal the Stallions’ considerable talent into a cohesive and competitive unit capable of challenging Africa’s elite sides. Burkina Faso have been regular participants at the AFCON finals in recent years, reaching the final in 2013 where they lost to Nigeria, and finishing as runners-up again in 2021 after a penalty shootout defeat to Senegal. Those achievements raised expectations that the Stallions could mount a credible challenge for continental glory, making the recent failures all the more frustrating for supporters and administrators alike.
The dismissal of Traore and his staff leaves the federation facing yet another coaching search at a critical juncture for Burkinabe football. The Stallions must now navigate qualifying campaigns for both the 2027 AFCON and future World Cup cycles, and the repeated turnover of coaching personnel threatens to undermine continuity and strategic development within the national team structure.
Burkina Faso’s struggles mirror broader challenges facing West African football nations seeking to translate regional talent into sustained international success. The country has produced a steady stream of technically gifted players who have competed at the highest levels of European football, yet translating individual quality into collective tournament success has proven elusive.
The federation’s decision to set semi-final qualification as a minimum expectation reflects both the ambition and the pressure surrounding the national team. However, frequent coaching changes and the inability to establish long-term stability have become recurring themes in Burkinabe football, raising questions about whether the federation’s approach to managing the national team is conducive to the sustained progress required to compete with the continent’s powerhouses.
The loss to Ivory Coast was particularly galling for Burkina Faso given the historical and geographical proximity of the two nations and the fierce sporting rivalry that exists between them. The Elephants, who won the 2023 AFCON on home soil in one of the tournament’s most dramatic victories in recent memory, demonstrated the gulf in class and organisation that currently exists between the two sides, with Diallo’s performance highlighting the calibre of talent available to the defending champions.
