Ghana’s Black Starlets suffered a painful 1-0 defeat to Senegal on Sunday evening, leaving their 2026 U17 Africa Cup of Nations campaign in serious jeopardy.
A second-half strike from Ibrahima Dione in the 57th minute proved decisive in Rabat, as Senegal secured their first win of the tournament despite playing part of the match with 10 men.
The Black Starlets went into the Group D clash looking to build on their opening 2-2 draw against Algeria, while Senegal were under pressure after losing their first game to South Africa.
Ghana started the match brightly and enjoyed long spells of control, creating several promising attacking moves. However, their biggest chance came after Senegal were reduced to 10 men, when Isaac Barfo failed to convert from the penalty spot in a major turning point.
That miss proved costly, as Senegal struck against the run of play through a well-executed counter-attack finished by Dione to secure all three points.
The defeat leaves Ghana bottom of Group D and facing the real possibility of an early exit from the competition.
In the other group fixture, Algeria edged South Africa 1-0 to move top of the table with four points.
The Black Starlets must now defeat South Africa in their final group match to keep their hopes of progressing to the knockout stage—and qualifying for the FIFA U17 World Cup—alive.
