Ghana kept their 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification ambitions alive with a pivotal victory over Côte d’Ivoire on Thursday.
The Black Queens secured a 2-1 comeback win against the Ivorians at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca during their World Cup play-in fixture.
Côte d’Ivoire opened the scoring in the fourth minute through an Ines Konan penalty, awarded just 50 seconds into the match following a foul by Princess Marfo in the box.
Ghana took control of proceedings afterward, creating multiple scoring opportunities, but were unable to break through the Ivorian defense before halftime.
Early in the second half, Stella Nyamekye had a goal disallowed for a foul on the Ivorian goalkeeper.
Shortly after the disallowed effort, Princess Marfo leveled the score for Kim Lars Bjorkegren’s side, converting a header from a Stella Nyamekye corner kick.
Thirteen minutes later, Josephine Bonsu scored what proved to be the winning goal from the penalty spot after Ghana was awarded a penalty for a handball inside the area.
Late in the match, the Ivorian goalkeeper denied further scoring attempts from Evelyn Badu and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah, while Ghana’s Cynthia Konlan produced a key save to maintain the lead.
The 2-1 victory secured Ghana one of Africa’s two available slots in the upcoming FIFA Playoff tournament for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
In the day’s other play-in match, South Africa recorded a 2-1 win over 2024 WAFCON champions Nigeria to claim the second qualification slot.