Ghana’s Black Challenge began their 2026 Amputee Football World Cup campaign with a 2-0 defeat by 2018 champions Angola in San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico, on Saturday night.
Marcos Dias gave Angola the lead with a superb free-kick in the 22nd minute, three minutes before half-time. Pedro Victor then doubled the advantage in the 48th minute to secure victory for the African champions.
The result was a disappointing start for Ghana, who arrived in Mexico as back-to-back African champions. They won the continental title in 2021 before retaining it in 2024, and also took gold at the 2023 African Para Games.
However, Ghana head coach Stephen Richard Obeng remains confident that his team can recover from the setback. The Black Challenge will focus on correcting the mistakes made against Angola rather than allowing the opening defeat to affect their wider campaign.
Ghana face Colombia at 18:30 GMT on Sunday in their second Group D match. They will complete their group-stage fixtures against Iraq on Monday.
Colombia began their campaign with a 2-0 win against Iraq. Hosts Mexico also made a winning start, beating Italy 2-1, while Angola’s victory over Ghana completed the results in Group D so far.
Despite losing their first match, Ghana can still revive their campaign and reach the knockout stage. The 24 competing nations have been divided into six groups, with 16 teams progressing to the Round of 16.
The top two teams in each group will qualify automatically, alongside the four best third-placed sides. Ghana therefore need positive results against Colombia and Iraq to keep their hopes of advancing alive.
The tournament continues until November 22, with 24 countries competing for the world title. Ghana will now attempt to recover quickly and turn their recent success in African competition into progress on the global stage.