Ghana book spot in 2027 Women's World Cup intercontinental playoffs after win over Ivory Coast

[p]Despite being eliminated from the ongoing 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) at the quarter-final stage by Malawi, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ghana/fTSIFW3l/"]Ghana[/a] had another opportunity to still qualify for next year's Women's World Cup.[/p][p]The Black Queens faced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ivory-coast/2iLuzkms/"]Ivory Coast[/a], who were eliminated by Algeria, in the play-in for the Mundial at the Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca.[/p][embed guid="55454005-ba08-4c33-b0a3-33019924bc23" url="https://x.com/CAFwomen/status/2087978344541245823?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Ghana were off to the worst possible start after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marfo-princess-dankwa/MiURHFhi/"]Princess Marfo[/a] gave away a penalty in the opening seconds of the game. After a long VAR check, Ivory Coast were awarded a spot kick, which [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/konan-i/M1sCcIaF/"]Ines Konan[/a] stepped up and converted.[/p][p]Ghana struggled to create any meaningful openings in the first half, with Ivory Coast remaining resolute in defence, holding onto their early lead.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/boaduwaa-doris/rRQFetiI/"]Doris Boaduwaa[/a] was forced off due to injury in added time of the first half and was replaced by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/badu-evelyn/lpSWzX27/"]Evelyn Badu[/a].[/p][p]Kim Lars Bjokergren seemed to have got his message across during half-time as the Black Queens looked like a completely different side.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nyamekye-stella/YmNqDzTf/"]Stella Nyamekye[/a], who was starting her first game at this WAFCON, thought she had levelled the game for Ghana.[/p][p]However, a VAR intervention confirmed a foul on goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lamfir-oceane/xUTgA5qA/"]Oceane Lamfir[/a] by Badu during the buildup leading to the goal.[/p][p]That didn't slow down the Black Queens, who intensified their pursuit of an equaliser, which came just a minute shy of the hour mark. A Nyamekye inswinging corner was nodded in at the far post by Marfo to give Ghana a well-deserved equaliser.[/p][p]Just 10 minutes later, a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/asantewaa-grace/lCb28Jq0/"]Grace Asantewaa[/a] shot appeared to have hit the hand of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diakite-mariam/0xFX8u3D/"]Mariam Diakite[/a] and once again a long VAR check deemed it a penalty for Ghana.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bonsu-josephine/SbzIXwZ4/"]Josephine Bonsu[/a] stepped up and coolly converted to give Ghana the lead with less than 20 minutes remaining.[/p][embed guid="d5c13341-11da-49c9-ba10-7345612a4bee" url="https://x.com/_owurakuampofo/status/2087982992215953475?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ghana-fTSIFW3l/ivory-coast-2iLuzkms/?mid=SKYdoWkC"]The Black Queens held on despite a late surge[/a] from the Ivorians to book their spot at the intercontinental play-offs for next year's Women's World Cup.[/p][p]The preliminary phase of the play-offs will take place later this year in November at a neutral ground where the Black Queens will play three games, and if they finish top two in the standings, they progress to the final phase.[/p][infobox id="89d8dac9-56aa-4b5e-897b-9c5da03c43e1" /]