Ghana and Nigeria stunned in Afcon qualifiers, Ivory Coast see off Somalia
West African football giants Ghana and Nigeria suffered unexpected defeats in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Meanwhile, other teams like Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Morocco secured victories during the busy round of 17 matches.
Why it matters
These results significantly impact the qualification landscape for the 2027 Afcon, highlighting the increasing competitiveness of smaller African football nations.
West African giants Ghana and Nigeria both suffered chastening defeats in 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers on Tuesday, while Algeria fought back from two goals down to avoid a shock loss to Burundi.
Tiny Cape Verde, who won legions of admirers with their gutsy exploits at this year’s World Cup, also went down in a surprise loss at home to Rwanda.
But heavyweight contenders Egypt, Morocco and Senegal all won difficult away assignments, and there were home wins for Benin, Comoros, Gabon, the Ivory Coast, Mali, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia on a busy day of 17 matches in the preliminaries for the 2027 finals to be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Ghana, one of Africa’s 10 representatives at the World Cup where they reached the last 32, surrendered a 2-0 lead in a stunning 4-2 home defeat by Gambia in Accra.
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