AFCON 2027 Qualifiers: Black Stars seek to reignite campaign against The Gambia

Ghana’s Black Stars will be looking to reignite their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign when they take on The Gambia in their second Group C fixture at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. The four-time AFCON champions suffered a disappointing start to the qualifiers last Thursday, losing 2-0 to Ivory Coast in Bouake. Goals from Malick Junior Yalcouyé and captain Franck Kessié were enough for the hosts to secure maximum points in the high-stakes clash.

With Ghana languishing bottom of Group C, the West African heavyweights will be seeking for a strong response against The Gambia, who commenced the qualifying campaign on a winning note. Ghana will be determined to put the disappointment in Bouake behind them and return to winning ways, knowing that another poor result would increase the pressure on the team at an early stage of the qualifying campaign.

The defeat to Ivory Coast also highlighted areas Ghana will need to improve, particularly in attack. The Black Stars struggled to create clear-cut opportunities and were unable to find a way past the Ivorian defence despite their efforts to get back into the contest.

The Gambia, meanwhile, are brimming with confidence ahead of the Ghana showdown after securing a 2-1 home win over Somalia in their opening match last week. With three points in the bag already, The Gambia will be hoping to upset Ghana in their quest to secure positive results away from home.

For the Black Stars, however, the focus will be on securing the three points and putting their qualification campaign back on track. Ghana still has a long way to go in the race for a place at the 2027 AFCON, but the second-round encounter represents an important opportunity to respond to the opening-day setback.

After leaving Bouake empty-handed, the Black Stars must now produce a much-improved performance against The Gambia and reignite their hopes of making a strong push for qualification.