Ghana’s Black Queens still have a chance to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup despite their 2-1 quarter-final defeat by Malawi at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
Rose Kadzere scored late for Malawi to end Ghana’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals and qualifying automatically for the tournament in Brazil. However, the result has not ended the Black Queens’ World Cup campaign.
Ghana will now play Cote d’Ivoire in a decisive World Cup play-off on 13 August. The match will offer both teams another opportunity to remain in contention for a place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Cote d’Ivoire also missed out on automatic qualification after being beaten 2-1 by Algeria in their quarter-final. As a result, the two West African sides will meet with a place in the next stage of the World Cup qualification process at stake.
The second play-off will be contested by Nigeria and South Africa, two of Africa’s leading women’s football nations.
Nigeria were knocked out of WAFCON after a 1-0 quarter-final defeat by Cameroon, while South Africa’s hopes of reaching the last four ended with a 2-1 loss to hosts Morocco.
The winners of both play-offs will advance to the FIFA Women’s World Cup intercontinental play-off tournament. They will then compete for the remaining African places at the 2027 World Cup.
Africa has been allocated six places at the expanded 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be hosted by Brazil.
Four of those places will be awarded automatically to the four WAFCON semi-finalists. The two remaining African representatives must qualify through the intercontinental play-off tournament.
That means the winners of Ghana against Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria against South Africa will continue their qualification campaigns, despite failing to reach the WAFCON semi-finals.
For Ghana, the task is straightforward. Victory over Cote d’Ivoire on 13 August would keep the Black Queens’ hopes of reaching Brazil 2027 alive.
A defeat would end Ghana’s chance of qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Black Queens have therefore missed out on the automatic route available to the four WAFCON semi-finalists, but they retain one final pathway to the tournament.
