Argentina v Burkina Faso: why they’re the Stallions, plus Haaland link | OneFootball

Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina National Team will go down in history because it filled us with glory, but also because it made us study Geography again. At some point, under Claudio Tapia and the AFA, friendlies stopped being against powerhouses and started being played against countries that are hard to place on the map.

The next one on that list is Burkina Faso, a landlocked West African nation with around 24 million inhabitants and an area almost as large as Buenos Aires Province. The first challenge is the demonym: for a large part of Argentine fans, the Burkinabé team is a mystery. But behind that exotic opponent lies a story full of national symbols, legends, folk heroes, and even one of the new prospects trying to follow the path once taken by Erling Haaland.

In football terms, Burkina Faso is known as “The Stallions” (“Les Étalons” in French), a nickname that was not born on a football field but long before the sport existed in the region. According to local tradition, the origin is linked to Yennenga, a warrior princess regarded as the mother of the Mossi people, the country’s main ethnic group. Legend says she escaped on horseback, and that animal eventually became one of the nation’s founding symbols.

That is why horses appear on the national coat of arms and also on the emblem of the Burkinabé Football Federation. Every time the national team takes the field, it actually represents much more than a team: it represents one of the country’s origin myths.

National identity was also present at the stadium where just a few days ago they hosted Benin in the qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. The match ended 1-1, but the result was almost secondary because it marked a new international appearance at the renovated Stade du 4 Août, the historic home of the Stallions.

The name is no coincidence either. It refers to August 4, 1983, the date when the revolution led by Thomas Sankara began, a political figure who is still revered by many Africans today. The stadium was inaugurated in 1984 and for decades became the country’s main sports venue.

The ground went through difficult years. In 2021, the Confederation of African Football withdrew its approval for international matches because it did not meet the required standards. That forced the national team to play several fixtures outside Burkina Faso until a major renovation allowed it to reopen in 2025. It now has a capacity of nearly 30,000 spectators and has become a symbol of the return of international football to the country.

The contrast with what they will find in Argentina is huge. In Ouagadougou, the Burkinabé capital, the cheapest tickets to watch the clash with Benin cost barely the equivalent of about three dollars. The federation even released statements with the physical points of sale and an extensive security protocol that banned everything from weapons and cigarettes to footballs and large umbrellas.

The trip to Argentina, moreover, was full of problems. The flight that was supposed to carry the delegation from Morocco was canceled without prior notice and forced the Burkinabé Federation to look for an alternative against the clock. The FBF itself acknowledged that the conditions of the new journey raised concerns among some players, and media outlets in that country reported that several members of the senior squad ultimately did not travel. Taking part in the efforts to resolve the situation were Sports Minister Annick Pikbougoum Zingué Ouattara, Federation president Oumarou Sawadogo, and Burkina Faso’s ambassador to Morocco, Mamadou Coulibaly.

In the end, the Stallions secured a charter flight from Casablanca and completed the squad with young players. But that trip did not go as planned either: the plane took off late and is expected to arrive in Buenos Aires at 3:32 p.m. this Saturday, just five hours and 28 minutes before the 9 p.m. match at the Monumental. And the stay will be brief: the return flight is scheduled for 7 a.m. on Sunday. Despite the changes in the delegation, the friendly is not at risk and retains its status as a Class A international match.

But on the pitch there are also stories that stand out.

The team’s main star is Edmond Tapsoba, a defender for Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen. His story is that of an Austrian club that in recent years has become a true talent factory. Players such as Erling Haaland, Benjamin Sesko, Karim Adeyemi, and Dominik Szoboszlai all exploded there before making the jump to the world’s top leagues.

That is why, even though he still does not have the international profile of other African stars, many observers are closely following his development. On a continent that has historically produced elite strikers, Camara appears to be one of the future bets of Burkinabé football.

Burkina Faso has never played in a World Cup, and its best continental performance was finishing as runner-up in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013. However, every time the Stallions take the field, they carry with them an identity that goes beyond football: the legend of a warrior princess, a country that found one of its symbols in the horse, and a new generation dreaming of making history.

Now they will have a unique opportunity. After playing at home against Benin, they will swap the heat of Ouagadougou and the stadium of the revolution for the challenge of facing world champion Argentina.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.