Black Queens head coach Kim Lars Björkegren has expressed deep heartbreak following Ghana’s 2-1 defeat to Malawi at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, labeling the loss the most difficult moment of his two-decade managerial career.
Ghana relinquished an early lead to suffer a quarter-final elimination, which derailed their immediate objective of advancing to the semi-finals and automatically booking a spot at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Reflecting on the setback, Björkegren voiced his sorrow over missing out on the opportunity to lead the nation back to the global stage.
“Maybe potentially the worst feeling I had in 20 years of coaching. I’m feeling so much for this team, for Ghana. I really wanted to help them to go to the first World Cup in 20 years and we felt that we had a good chance to do it today,” Björkegren stated.
“but we didn’t perform well enough even if it was a little bit of a 50-50 game. Always when you’re in the losing team you need to face the truth and the fact is that we lost with one ball and now it’s really painful,” he said.
Despite the setback, the Ghanaian side retains an avenue to secure World Cup qualification. The Black Queens are set to return to action on Thursday in Casablanca, where they will face Côte d’Ivoire in a playoff fixture.
The upcoming tie provides Björkegren’s squad a prompt opportunity to recover from the quarter-final exit and sustain their ambition of securing Ghana’s first Women’s World Cup appearance since 2007.