Ghana have become the first West African nation to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup following a 1-0 win over Comoros in the final qualifying match.
A second-half goal by Tottenham Hotspur’s Mohammed Kudus gave the Black Stars the win at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
The Black Stars have, therefore, joined Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt as the African qualifiers, so far, for the tournament set to be staged in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America (USA).
Ghana only had to avoid defeat in Sunday’s match in order to seal qualification to their fifth World Cup after Wednesday’s 5-0 drubbing of Central African Republic in Meknes, Morocco.
But recent results from meetings with Comoros had fuelled a desire to win the game.
A level game was witnessed in the first half as the Coelacanths were quick on the counter while the Black Stars knocked hard to break their nemesis.
One of such quick counter attacks saw Real Oviedo’s Kwasi Sibo at the receiving end, attracting Gabonese referee Pierre Atcho’s Yellow Card.
It ended goalless after the first 45 minutes.
Coach Otto Addo’s pep talk at half time seems to have worked as the deadlock was broken after just 120 seconds.
The Stars knocked harder than in the first half with the ball swinging in front of the Comoros goal for almost one minute.
A final push saw the ball go to Alidu Seidu, who sent in a cross deep into the half of the opponents.
The ball rolled in the air to Thomas Partey, who squared it into the goal area of the Comorans.
Kudus, who had been involved in this threat, directed the ball past Adel Anzimati-Aboudou to snatch the eventual winner for the Stars.
The win for the four-time African champions sees them qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the fifth time since a debut appearance in 2006.
They finshed atop Group I with 25 points while Madagascar, who lost 1-4 to Mali in the final qualifier, finished second with 19 points.
Four more places are up for grabs in the qualifiers on the African continent.
