Ghana U17 captain apologises after Ivory Coast defeat ends AFCON hopes

Black Starlets captain Issah Abdul Rafiu has apologised to Ghanaians after Ghana were eliminated from contention for the 2027 U17 Africa Cup of Nations by a 1-0 semi-final defeat by Ivory Coast at the 2026 WAFU Zone B U17 Championship.

Ghana had been hoping to reach the continental tournament in Morocco, but their hopes ended in a closely contested semi-final after they were reduced to 10 players early in the match.

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Defender Daniel Owusu was shown a straight red card in the 17th minute, leaving the Black Starlets to play the majority of the tie with a numerical disadvantage.

Issah said the players understood the disappointment caused by failing to achieve their main target, but promised that they would respond in Friday’s third-place play-off against hosts Burkina Faso.

“First of all, we want to send our apologies to Ghanaians for failing to qualify for the AFCON. But we want to assure them that we will show up tomorrow and win the bronze medal to show we were down by a man that’s why we lost to Ivory Coast.”

Despite being a player short, Ghana continued to create opportunities and threatened the Ivory Coast defence on several occasions. They were unable to turn those chances into goals, however, and were eventually punished when Alex Fousseni Bamba scored in the 76th minute.

That goal settled the semi-final and ended Ghana’s hopes of securing one of the tournament’s qualification places for the 2027 U17 Africa Cup of Nations.

The result was a particularly difficult setback after the Black Starlets had made an impressive start to the competition. They finished top of Group A with seven points from three matches, defeating Togo and Benin before drawing 0-0 with Burkina Faso.

Their group-stage performances had increased expectations that Ghana could progress through the knockout rounds and reach the AFCON. Instead, the team must now settle for a place in the bronze-medal match.

Issah said the squad remained focused on finishing the tournament strongly and giving their supporters a positive result to remember. The match against Burkina Faso will provide Ghana with an opportunity to claim third place, despite the disappointment of missing out on qualification.

The Black Starlets captain acknowledged that the loss to Ivory Coast had made their task more difficult, particularly because of the early dismissal, but said the players were determined to respond on the pitch.

Ghana’s final fixture of the 2026 WAFU Zone B U17 Championship will therefore be centred on securing the bronze medal, after their bid to qualify for the 2027 U17 Africa Cup of Nations came to an end in the semi-finals.