Africa will show: what awaits the Russian national team in the match with Burkina Faso

The Russian national football team will play a friendly match in Volgograd against Burkina Faso, one of the strongest African teams in recent years. For Valery Karpin's team, this meeting will be an opportunity to rehabilitate themselves after their recent defeat by Egypt and test themselves against an opponent who regularly achieves success at the continental level. At the same time, the Russians will approach the game with personnel losses, having lost a number of leading players. The match is expected to attract tens of thousands of spectators at the Volgograd Arena.

Who will play for the Russian national team

The main surprise in the Russian national team's final bid for the May and June matches was the inclusion of Manchester United youth team midfielder Amir Ibragimov. A native of Dagestan, he joined the English club's academy at the age of 15, and is now considered one of the most promising players of his age. Last week, the 18-year-old football player did not enter the field in the away match with Egypt (0:1), remaining in the reserves.

It is possible that the upcoming meeting with Burkina Faso will be Ibragimov's debut. Midfielders Alexander Golovin (Monaco), Lechi Sadulaev (Akhmat) and defender Maxim Osipenko (Dynamo Moscow) left the national team due to injuries before leaving for Cairo.

Striker Konstantin Tyukavin also did not fly to Egypt. Initially, it was assumed that the striker would be able to participate in the June matches, but later questions arose about his readiness. The day before the game in Volgograd, Tyukavin participated in SPIEF events with Dynamo Moscow and reported feeling unwell, due to which he could not train. Karpin later confirmed that the striker would not play against Burkina Faso.

In addition, the RFU press service said that goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev, defenders Igor Diveev and Daniil Denisov, as well as midfielder Artem Karpukas had left the national team.

Karpin also could not use the main goalkeeper of the national team Matvey Safonov, who was at the PSG location at the time. Together with the French club, he won the Champions League, making history in Russian football.

"Our national team has serious losses, but it is quite capable of beating Burkina Faso," Dmitry Bulykin, a former striker of the Russian national team, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — The main thing is for the coaching staff to release the strongest squad of players they currently have. And for him to play to the maximum of his abilities, so that the numerous fans in Volgograd would not regret coming to the game. Then we will have a chance to win with a good score and test our current level against a fairly strong opponent, even if not the strongest.

Gone from the pharaohs: the Russian national team switches from Egypt to Burkina Faso

Valery Karpin's team will play the second match of the summer training camp in Volgograd against one of Africa's strongest rivals.

What you need to know about the Burkina Faso national team

The Burkina Faso national team is ranked 62nd in the FIFA rankings and is one of the strongest teams in Africa in recent years. She did not qualify for the World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer, but she has consistently reached the playoffs at the last three continental cups, including reaching the semifinals in 2021. This team has several players from the top 5 European leagues. For example, the long-term defender of Bayer Leverkusen, Edmond Tapsoba, won the German championship with this club two years ago.

"Burkina Faso is far from the strongest opponent, but it is quite strong," Vyacheslav Koloskov, honorary President of the Russian Football Federation, told Izvestia. — A strong African national team. Not Egypt, of course, which is participating in the upcoming World Cup. But it will be useful to play with this team. Especially now we don't have to choose our opponents for friendly matches. Against the background of Egypt, we tested ourselves, we lost to this team, which also did not enter the field with the strongest squad. At the same time, the quality of our game was not very high, and we almost did not create chances at the other team's goal. In general, it's good food for our players and coaching staff to analyze. Now, with Burkina Faso, we will see what conclusions were drawn from the failure in Egypt.

One thing, but: the Russian national team lost to Egypt with a minimum score

Valery Karpin's team played an unintelligible match in the stuffy atmosphere of Cairo

Why are they waiting for a full house in Volgograd

This is the third time in recent years that Volgograd has hosted the matches of the Russian national team. In November 2023, more than 40 thousand spectators came to the game against the rather weak Cuban national team, which was defeated with a score of 8:0. A year later, more than 35 thousand watched Russia beat Syria (4:0).

The local public has historically been considered extremely football-loving, coming to the stadium even for low-profile matches. This is also confirmed by the example of the Rotor football club, which has played only one season in the RPL over the past 20 years. But even in the lower leagues, not only the First, but also the Second, tens of thousands of spectators came to the team's games in Volgograd. In particular, the recent home transition match against Akron Togliatti (0:2) was attended by about 35 thousand. Therefore, we can safely expect maximum attendance at the meeting with Burkina Faso.

The match against Burkina Faso will start at 20:00 Moscow time.

Russia will also meet with Trinidad and Tobago on June 9. The game will be held in Kaliningrad.