Ghana pull out of Morocco friendly after AFCON qualifying defeats

[p]The match was due to take place at the Grand Stade de Tanger, but the Moroccan Football Federation has cancelled the fixture and are set to face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mali/jVn5lThB/"]Mali[/a] instead.[/p][p]No official reason has been given for the cancellation, but sources close to the Ghana Football Association say they reached out to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IDKYO3R8/"]Morocco[/a] to call off the game due to administrative issues and player fitness issues.[/p][embed guid="dc01ee97-01d0-4a0b-9ac0-6586df7cd8b1" url="https://x.com/_owurakuampofo/status/2105267081826497015?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]The development comes after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ghana/nNBjHale/"]Ghana[/a] suffered consecutive defeats to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ivory-coast/G2FRjBgn/"]Ivory Coast[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/gambia/hADVg0uE/"]Gambia[/a] in their opening two Group C qualifiers.[/b][/p][p]The Black Stars lost [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ghana-nNBjHale/ivory-coast-G2FRjBgn/?mid=xzhK7LUO"]2-0 to in Bouake[/a] before suffering [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/gambia-hADVg0uE/ghana-nNBjHale/?mid=QDuyQ2pg"]a 4-2 defeat to Gambia[/a] at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday.[/p][p]Ghana took a two-goal lead against Gambia through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nuamah-ernest/rsiloRPO/"]Ernest Nuamah[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/afena-gyan-felix/G4pacAW7/"]Felix Afena-Gyan[/a] but conceded four times to suffer another damaging defeat.[/p][p]The result leaves Carlos Queiroz’s side bottom of Group C without a point from their opening two matches and facing a difficult task to qualify for the 2027 AFCON.[/p][image alt="2027 AFCON qualifiers Group C standings" id="d96a647b-e1a8-401b-bdd7-fb2560e50b25" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="36ea0beb-71c0-43ed-b3af-d24d78241cae" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p]Following Tuesday’s defeat, Ghana’s players have already left camp, bringing the international break to an earlier conclusion than originally planned.[/p][p]The Black Stars had initially been scheduled to use the Morocco friendly as a third fixture during the September-October international window after the two competitive qualifiers.[/p][h2]Tanzania friendly never confirmed[/h2][p]Ghana had also been linked with a friendly against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tanzania/KzAbFwJ7/"]Tanzania[/a] during the extended international window.[/p][embed guid="1a44a57d-86fc-40a5-9cb6-df0fd064d4b1" url="https://www.facebook.com/tfftanzania/posts/1566669925498981?ref=embed_post" social-type="facebook" /][p]However, that fixture was never officially confirmed by the Ghana Football Association and ultimately did not materialise after the two federations failed to reach a final agreement.[/p][p][b]Ghana therefore end the international break with two defeats from two matches, having scored two goals and conceded six.[/b][/p][p]Queiroz’s side will now have to wait until the next AFCON qualifying window in November for an opportunity to revive their qualification campaign.[/p][image alt="Owuraku Ampofo" id="345f5fd0-6a26-4f45-8078-6462582c5da7" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="ef340432-8f3f-4ad6-8b15-13bb17dd33d5" original-width="1200" original-height="381" /]