Ghana’s Black Princesses have been eliminated from the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup after suffering a 4-0 defeat to France in their final Group C match.
Ghana entered the decisive encounter needing a strong result to keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stage alive, but France dominated the contest and secured a convincing victory.
Clara Bertrand gave France the lead before Justine Rouquet extended the advantage. Rouquet struck again to complete her brace and put the European side in a commanding position, with Ornella Graziani adding a fourth goal to complete the scoring.
The victory saw France finish at the top of Group C and book their place in the knockout stage as group winners.
The Republic of Korea finished second after recording a 3-2 victory over Ecuador in the other group fixture. Ecuador, despite the loss, still have a chance of advancing as one of the best third-placed teams.
For Ghana, however, the heavy defeat brought their campaign to an early end and extended the Black Princesses’ wait to progress beyond the group stage of the U-20 Women’s World Cup.
The Ghanaian side began the tournament on a difficult note, losing 3-0 to Ecuador in their opening game. They responded impressively in their second match, defeating the Republic of Korea 3-1 to revive hopes of qualifying for the knockout phase.
However, the Black Princesses could not maintain that momentum against France and ultimately finished their campaign at the group stage once again.
France will now meet Canada in the last 16, while the Republic of Korea will face Argentina.
The Black Princesses will return home disappointed after another campaign in which their hopes of making history were raised following their second-match victory but eventually ended with elimination from the competition.
