“It is strange” Steeve Yago frustrated after Burkina Faso misses World Cup playoffs

Burkina Faso national team defender Steeve Yago has reacted to his nation nearly missing out on the regional playoff for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying from the CAF region. The Stallions wrapped up the group stage with a 3-1 triumph over Ethiopia, but they were deprived of a playoff place by Nigeria.

The 32-year-old defender played the full 90 minutes against Ethiopia and took to his official X page to speak about the lost spot. “Honestly, it is strange. You win your games against the weakest team in your group, yet Nigeria is ahead of you, even though they haven’t beaten Zimbabwe, who are last in their group,” said Yago.

#CAF #FIFA #Football #AFCON #Nigeria #FootAfricain #LogiqueDuFoot #ConsultantEnDevenir ⚽️🎙️#burkinafaso pic.twitter.com/a0WLrlwE4x

— Steeve Yago (@steeveyago) October 14, 2025

With Eritrea failing to take part in the qualifier, CAF excluded results registered against the bottom national teams when calculating rankings for the playoff spots. Only four nations qualified for the playoffs from the nine available groups, and Burkina Faso finished fifth in the ranking.

Yago sarcastically took a hit at CAF and FIFA while suggesting he needed to learn to comprehend how the system works. “Apparently, beating the bottom team is too mainstream. Thank you, CAF and FIFA! My career is nearing its end, so I will start studying the system to criticize you properly soon.”

After a magnificent run during the qualifiers, Burkina Faso agonizingly missed out on a spot to keep their World Cup hopes alive.