African Nations Cup record:

Previous appearances in finals: 6

Best performance: Semi-finalists in 1998

Coach: Portuguese Paulo Duarte gave up his job at Le Mans to stay in charge of the African side at the Nations Cup. He had sought to do the two jobs in tandem when signing for the French outfit at the start of the season but with the club struggling to stay out of the Ligue 1 relegation zone, he was given an ultimatum last month to choose between the two. The 40-year-old played at Uniao Leiria in Portugal for most of his career and then became their coach in 2006.

Key players:

Moumouni Dagano (Al Khor). Age: 29. Forward

Twelve goals in the qualifiers made Dagano the top marksman in the preliminary campaign, keeping up his reputation for mercurial form. In France, Dagano showed much potential at Guingamp but when he made the move up to Sochaux, failed to realise his promise and was eventually allowed to move to play in Qatar.

Jonathan Pitroipa (Hamburg SV). Age: 23. Midfielder

Pitroipa moved to Europe as a teenager to play at SC Freiburg, later catching the eye of Hamburg and making the step up to the Bundesliga. He has been a consistent performer at national team level too, playing in all of the 2010 qualifying matches.

Charles Kabore (Olympique Marseille). Age: 21. Midfielder.

Not a regular at club level with French giants Marseille, he is still regarded as a big talent for the future. He has been used in a right back role of late, although is much happier in the centre of the midfield. Marseille are set to offer him a contract extension as soon as he returns from Angola.

FIFA world ranking December 2009: 49th

Prospects: The Burkinabe faded last year after a strong performance in 2008 when they were one of just four sides that managed to get through the first phase of the 2010 African World Cup qualifiers unbeaten. Their dip is form has been exacerbated by a tough draw where they must get past one of either Ghana or the Ivory Coast, both 2010 World Cup finalists, to make the quarter-finals.

(Compiled by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Brian Homewood)