Ghana’s recent record in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying has raised serious questions ahead of Tuesday’s crucial Group C clash with The Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The Black Stars’ last victory in an AFCON qualifying campaign came in September 2023, when Mohammed Kudus and Ernest Nuamah scored in Ghana’s 2-1 comeback win over the Central African Republic to secure qualification for the 2023 tournament.
Since then, Ghana failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after finishing bottom of their qualifying group with just three points, following three draws and three defeats.
The pressure has therefore returned quickly for Carlos Queiroz, particularly after Ghana opened the 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign with a 2-0 defeat to Côte d’Ivoire in Bouaké.
The Black Stars now face The Gambia on Tuesday, September 29, at 4pm at the Accra Sports Stadium. The Gambians come into the game with three points after beating Somalia 2-1 in their opening Group C fixture, while Ghana are yet to register a point.
The response from Ghana will be important. Queiroz has already spoken about the need for consistency, commitment, availability and building the team around a core group of players rather than constantly changing large numbers of players.
Against The Gambia, Ghana will need greater attacking efficiency after failing to score against Côte d’Ivoire. The team also needs to turn possession and attacking opportunities into goals while maintaining defensive concentration.
A possible approach would be to give the midfield enough control to allow Ghana’s attacking players to operate higher up the pitch, while avoiding unnecessary gaps that could expose the defence to The Gambia’s counter-attacking threat.
The coach also has several options available after making additional changes to the squad because of injuries and player-availability issues. The expanded group includes players such as Jonas Adjetey, Alidu Seidu, Ebenezer Annan, Rahim Ibrahim, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Mohammed Fuseini.
The bigger question is whether Ghana can recover quickly enough from the disappointment in Bouaké. The GFA says the team has already returned to training, with recovery work for players who started against Côte d’Ivoire and tactical drills for the rest of the squad.
Qualification remains a long process, rather than something that will be decided by Tuesday’s match alone. The 2027 AFCON qualifiers consist of six rounds, with the top two teams from most groups advancing to the finals.
However, another failure to collect points would make Ghana’s route considerably more demanding, particularly with Côte d’Ivoire and The Gambia already having opened their campaigns with victories.
For Queiroz, therefore, the immediate task is clear: settle the team, restore confidence, improve the attacking output and get the result needed to restart Ghana’s qualification campaign.
The question of whether Ghana will ultimately qualify cannot be answered with certainty at this stage. What can be established is that the Black Stars have started Group C without a point, while The Gambia have three, making Tuesday’s encounter an important early test of Ghana’s ability to recover.
