Ivory Coast meet Egypt in 2025 AFCON quarters after easing by Burkina Faso

Holders Ivory Coast beat Burkina Faso 3-0 in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations and now face Egypt in the quarterfinals.Published On 6 Jan 2026Manchester United winger Amad Diallo starred as Ivory Coast beat Burkina Faso 3-0 on Monday and became the first Africa Cup of Nations defending champions to reach the quarterfinals since 2010.Diallo struck the opening goal and created the second for Yan Diomande before half-time. Substitute Bazoumana Toure completed the scoring in the closing minutes in Marrakesh.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Who could be the next Manchester United manager?list 2 of 4Man Utd manager job not in Fletcher’s ‘wildest dreams’list 3 of 4Man Utd manager talk ‘waste of time’ says favourite Glasnerlist 4 of 4Why was Ruben Amorim sacked as Man United manager?end of listIvory Coast now travel south to the Moroccan coastal city of Agadir, where they will face record seven-time champions Egypt on Saturday for a semifinal place.Since Egypt successfully defended the title in Angola 16 years ago, seven title holders have failed to reach the last eight.Cameroon and Senegal made last-16 exits; Zambia, Ivory Coast and Algeria were eliminated after the group stage; and Egypt and Nigeria failed to qualify for the tournament.Burkinabe defender Adamo Nagalo was yellow-carded after just five minutes for fouling Diallo. However, the Red Devil disappointed with the resulting free-kick, firing embarrassingly wide.Ivory Coast were dominating possession, and captain Franck Kessie was not far off target when he tried to steer a shot into the roof of the net.There was a sense of inevitability when the title-holders went ahead on 20 minutes. Diallo powered his way past several defenders before striking the ball beyond goalkeeper Herve Koffi.Burkina Faso wanted the goal disallowed, claiming Nagalo had been body checked by Evann Guessand, but a VAR review confirmed the decision of the Sudanese referee to award it.Ivory Coast’s forward Bazoumana Toure celebrates scoring the team’s third goal during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 match against Burkina Faso [Franck Fife/AFP]Such was the control of the Ivorians that it came as no surprise when they increased their lead on 32 minutes on a cold, dry night at the foothills of the Atlas mountain range.