The Burkina Faso national football team formed in 1960. The team affiliated to FIFA and joined the Confederation of African Football in 1964. The team was known as the Upper Volta national football team until 1984, when the country became Burkina Faso.
The team played its first international in 1960, a 5-4 win (as Upper Volta) over Gabon. The team’s biggest defeat came as Upper Volta in a 7-0 loss to Algeria in 1981. Burkina Faso’s record win margin is less impressive, the team beat Mozambique 4-0 in 2003 and Namibia by the same scoreline in 2011.
The African Cup of Nations has provided a good experience for Burkina Faso over the years and the team’s performance has improved. The team’s best performance came as recently as 2013. The team lost narrowly in the final to Nigeria.
Burkina Faso has entered world cup qualifying sporadically. The team attempted to qualify for the 1978 and 1990 tournaments. Recently Burkina Faso has shown more consistency, entering every campaign since 1998.