The Ghana women’s national football team, Black Queens, have qualified for the 2024 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (WAFCON) tournament on a 3-2 aggregate despite losing their second leg encounter 1-0 away to Namibia on Tuesday, December 5.
In the first leg last Sunday in Accra, the Black Queens had secured a commanding 3-1 win to take control of the tie. However, Namibia came determined in front of their own fans in Windhoek to try and overturn the deficit. They managed to get their reward early after they capitalised on some sloppy defending in the Ghanaian backline to slot home in the 18th minute.
That goal gave the crowd in the Namibian capital some hope that they could pull off an unlikely comeback. But the Ghanaians dug deep and managed to keep their southern African opponents at bay for the remainder of the match despite some spirited attacks from the Namibians.
The 1-0 result meant Ghana qualified by the slimmest of margins with a 3-2 aggregate scoreline. But they would not mind that as it secured their passage to an eighth consecutive AWCON tournament.
The Black Queens return to the competition after painfully missing out in the last edition Morocco in 2022 when Nigeria eliminated them in the final round of qualifying. It was a bitter pill for a team used to featuring consistently at the AWCON having won it in 2018.
Ghana will be one of 12 countries to have qualified for the 2024 tournament scheduled to take place in Morocco
Head coach Nora Hauptile was relieved her charges made it over the line against a determined Namibian side.
The Black Queens will be hoping to improve on their recent showings at AWCON to win it for the first after being finalist on three occasions, losing all to Nigeria.
Skipper Elizabeth Addo will be hoping for better fortunes this time round as they seek to add to their two continental titles.