2027 AFCON QUALIFIERS  PREVIEW: IVORY COAST WILL BEGIN THEIR CAMPAIGN TO QUALIFY FOR THE 2027 AFCON TOURNAMENT AS THEY FACE THE BLACK STARS OF GHANA

By: Isaac Amponsah (Dr Ike)

Predictions: Home win/draw

• The 3-time AFCON Champions, Ivory Coast, will lock horns with the 4-time AFCON Champions, Ghana, in the 2027 AFCON Qualifiers Group C Round 1 fixture at the Stade de Bouaké on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

• The 2027 AFCON Qualifiers showdown on Thursday, September 24, 2026 will be the Elephants of Ivory Coast and Ghana Black Stars' 54th meeting in all competitions.

Total matches played  - 53
Ivory Coast wins           - 16
Goals scored                 - 49
Ghana wins                    - 15
Goals scored                 - 54
Drawn games                - 12

• Head-to-Head at AFCON Qualifiers:

• Sunday, September 9, 1973 (1974 AFCON Qualifiers) [Second Round]
Venue: Accra Sports Stadium 
Ghana 0-3 Ivory Coast
Laurent Pokou, Mama Ouattara (brace)

• Sunday, September 23, 1973 (1974 AFCON Qualifiers) [Second Round]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan 
Ivory Coast 1-0 Ghana 
Adama Doumbia 

NB: Ivory Coast won 4-0 on aggregate.

• Sunday, August 18, 1985 (1986 AFCON Qualifiers) [Second Round]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan 
Ivory Coast                2-0 Ghana 
Gnahore Emile 43' (pen), Abdoulaye Traore 'Ben Badi' 81'
• Sunday, September 1, 1985 (1986 AFCON Qualifiers) [Second Round]
Venue: Kumasi Sports Stadium 
Ghana 0-0 Ivory Coast 

NB: Ivory Coast won 2-0 on aggregate.

Total matches played  - 4
Ivory Coast wins           - 3
Goals scored                 - 6
Ghana wins                    - 0
Goals scored                 - 0
Drawn games                - 1

• Black Stars of Ghana are yet to score an AFCON Qualifiers goal against the Elephants of Ivory Coast.

• Match Facts:

• The Elephants of Ivory Coast are ranked 31st by the latest FIFA rankings (July 20, 2026), but their highest was 12th in February 2013, April - May 2013.

• Their first international game was April 13, 1960 (Ivory Coast 3-2 Dahomey) in Madagascar.

• The Black Stars of Ghana are ranked 65th in the FIFA rankings (July 20, 2026), but their highest ranking was 14th in April - May 2007 and February 2008.

• Their first international game was May 28, 1950 (Gold Coast and British Togoland 1-0 Nigeria) in Accra, British Gold Coast.

• Player Records:

• Ivory Coast's most-capped player: Didier Zokora (123 caps, 1 goal).

• Ghana's most-capped player: Jordan Pierre Ayew (124 caps, 34 goals).

• Ivory Coast's all-time top scorer: Didier Drogba (65 goals, 105 caps).

• Ghana's all-time top scorer: Asamoah Gyan (51 goals, 109 caps).

• Team Information:

• Ivory Coast is located in West Africa, which is part of the WAFU Regional Federation.

• Ghana is located in West Africa, which is part of the WAFU Regional Federation.

• The Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) was officially founded in 
1960. It joined FIFA in 1964 and CAF in 1965. 

• The Ghana Football Association (GFA) was founded in 1957 and became affiliated with FIFA in 1958 and CAF in 1960.

• The GFA made history by becoming the first African association to connect to the FIFA Connect Platform, a system designed to register and track players and officials globally.

• Ivory Coast Records at AFCON Qualifiers:

• Ivory Coast started playing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers in 1965 for the Tunisia 1965 AFCON.

• The first country to play Ivory Coast at the AFCON Qualifiers was Congo-Leopoldville.
January 17, 1965 (Zone 3) [Group Stage]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan 
Ivory Coast 2-0 Congo-Leopoldville 
Maurice Déhi 69', Joseph Bleziri 80'

• Maurice Dehi was the first player to score a goal for Ivory Coast in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

• Ivory Coast have qualified automatically as a Host and as defending champions, and Ivory Coast have been at the AFCON Tournament on 26 occasions since 1965 and have won the title three (3) times (1992, 2015, 2023).

• Ivory Coast have lost three (3) times at Home in the AFCON Qualifiers since 1965:

• September 4, 2005 (2006 AFCON/World Cup Qualifiers)[Second Round] {Group 3}
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan 
Ivory Coast 2-3 Cameroon 
Didier Drogba (brace) 38', 47'//Pierre Webo (hat-trick) 30', 45+2', 85'
Referee: Mourad Daami (Tunisia)

• October 15, 2014 (2015 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group D]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan 
Ivory Coast  3-4 DR Congo 
Yaya Toure 24', Salomon Kalou (brace) 68', 72'//Neeskens Kebano 20', Junior Kabananga 34', Jeremy Bokila (brace) 36', 88'
Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

• June 10, 2017 (2019 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group H]
Venue: Stade Bouaké
Ivory Coast 2-3 Guinea 
Seydou Doumbia (brace) 14', 61'//Sadio Diallo 31', Francois Kamano 65', Naby Keita 78'
Referee: Helder Martins de Carvalho (Angola)

• Ghana Records at AFCON Qualifiers:

• Ghana started playing the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers in 1961 for the 1962 Ethiopia AFCON.

• The first country to play Ghana was Nigeria 
April 8, 1961 
Venue: Surulere Stadium, Lagos
Nigeria 0-0 Ghana 

• April 30, 1961  
Venue: Accra Sports Stadium 
Ghana 2-2 Nigeria 
Edward Acquah 34, Edward Aggrey-Fynn 88'
Elkanah Onyeali 50', Dejo Fayemi 75'
• NB: Nigeria won on lots.
Nigeria advanced to the second Round after drawing lots in London on September 27, 1961, so Nigeria qualified ahead of Ghana.

• Edward Acquah was the first player to score a goal for Ghana in an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier. 

• Ghana have qualified automatically as a Host and as defending champions, and Ghana have been in the Nations Cup Tournament on 24 occasions since 1963 and have won the title four (4) times (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982).

• Additional Facts:

• Ghana are winless in their last six (6) AFCON Qualifiers (D3 L3 GF3 GA7):
• 05/09/2024 Ghana  0-1 Angola 
• 09/09/2024 Niger    1-1 Ghana 
• 10/10/2024 Ghana  0-0 Sudan 
• 15/10/2024 Sudan  2-0 Ghana 
• 15/11/2024 Angola 1-1 Ghana 
• 18/11/2024 Ghana  1-2 Niger 

• The last time Black Stars of Ghana won an Away game in the AFCON Qualifiers was November 18, 201,9 against Sao Tome and Principe in the 2021 AFCON Qualifiers and coincidentally in Group C (0- 1), courtesy of Jordan Pierre Ayew's 50th-minute penalty at Estadio Nacional 12 de Julho, Sao Tome.

• Two Nations' AFCON Qualifiers games in September:

• The Elephants of Ivory Coast have played 21 AFCON Qualifiers games in September since 1965 (W12 D5 L4 GF38 GA18).

• Ivory Coast have played 9 Home AFCON Qualifiers games in September since 1965 (W7 D1 L1 GF21 GA7):
• 23/09/1973 Ivory Coast 1-0 Ghana 
• 05/09/2004 Ivory Coast 5-0 Sudan 
• 04/09/2005 Ivory Coast 2-3 Cameroon
• 04/09/2010 Ivory Coast 3-0 Rwanda
• 08/09/2012 Ivory Coast 4-2 Senegal 
• 06/09/2014 Ivory Coast 2-1 Sierra Leone 
• 04/09/2016 Ivory Coast 1-1 Sierra Leone 
• 09/09/2023 Ivory Coast 1-0 Lesotho 
• 06/09/2024 Ivory Coast 2-0 Zambia

• Ivory Coast have scored in each of their Home AFCON Qualifiers games in September since 1965 (scoring 21 goals in 9 games).

• Black Stars of Ghana have played 22 AFCON Qualifiers games in September since 1961 (W11 D5 L6 GF37 GA19).

• Ghana have played 9 Away AFCON qualifiers in September since 1961 (W4 D2 L3 GF20 GA10).
• 21/09/1969 Niger           1-9 Ghana 
• 23/09/1973 Ivory Coast 1-0 Ghana 
• 30/09/1990 Togo            0-1 Ghana
• 03/09/2000 Lesotho      3-3 Ghana 
• 07/09/2002 Uganda       1-0 Ghana 
• 05/09/2010 Swaziland  0-3 Ghana
• 10/09/2014 Togo            2-3 Ghana
• 08/09/2018 Kenya          1-0 Ghana 
• 09/09/2024 Niger           1-1 Ghana

• Two nations' AFCON Qualifiers games on Thursday:

• Ivory Coast are unbeaten in their previous AFCON Qualifiers games played on Thursday since 1965: (W1 D1 GF2 GA1).
• 12/11/2020 Ivory Coast 2-1 Madagascar 
• 09/06/2022 Lesotho 0-0 Ivory Coast 

• Ghana have played 8 AFCON qualifiers on Thursday since 1961 (W5  D2  L1 GF11  GA4).
• 24/03/2016 Ghana            3-1 Mozambique
• 14/11/2019 Ghana            2-0 South Africa
• 12/11/2020 Ghana            2-0 Sudan
• 25/03/2021 South Africa 1-1 Ghana
• 23/03/2023 Ghana            1-0 Angola 
• 07/09/2023 Ghana            2-1 Central African Republic 
• 05/09/2024 Ghana            0-1 Angola 
• 10/10/2024 Ghana            0-0 Sudan

• Match Officials:

Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)
Assistant Referee 1: Abbes Akram Zerhouni (Algeria)
Assistant Referee 2: Mokrane Gourari (Algeria)

• Center Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

• Mustapha Ghorbal was born on August 19, 1985, in Oran, Algeria. He has officiated international matches as a FIFA referee since 2014.

• This fixture will be the fifth time a referee from Algeria will officiate Ivory Coast at the AFCON Qualifiers since 2000 (W3 D1 GF7 GA1):

• June 20, 1999 (2000 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group round]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan 
Ivory Coast                0-0 Mali 
Referee: Karim Daho (Algeria)

• October 11, 2008 (2010 AFCON/World Cup Qualifiers) [Group 7]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan 
Ivory Coast                3-0 Madagascar
Boubacar Sanogo (brace), Salomon Kalou 66' (pen)
Referee: Mohamed Benouza (Algeria)

• October 11, 2014 (2015 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group D]
Venue: Stade Tata Raphael, Kinshasa 
DR Congo                   1-2 Ivory Coast 
Cedric Mongongu 68' (pen)//Wilfried Bony 24', Gradel 83'
Referee: Mehdi Abid Charef (Algeria) 

• September 6, 2024 (2025 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group G]
Venue: Stade de la Paix, Bouaké 
Ivory Coast                2-0 Zambia 
Jean-Philippe Krasso (brace) 73', 84'
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

• This fixture will be the sixth time a referee from Algeria will officiate Ghana AFCON Qualifiers games since 2000 (W4 L1 GF9 GA4):

• June 14, 2008 (2010 AFCON/World Cup Qualifiers) [Second Round] {Group 5}
Venue: Stade Omar Bongo, Libreville
Gabon 2-0 Ghana
Roguy Meye 42', Stephane N'Guema 66'
Referee: Mohamed Benouza (Algeria)

• September 8, 2012 (2013 AFCON Qualifiers) [Second Round]
Venue: Accra Sports Stadium
Ghana 2-0 Malawi
Christian Atsu 8', Anthony Annan 53'
Referee: Mohamed Benouza (Algeria) 

• September 10, 2014 (2015 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group E) 
Venue: Stade de Kegue, Lomé
Togo 2-3 Ghana
Floyd Ama Nino Ayité 12', Emmanuel Adebayor 75'//Asamoah Gyan 23', Emmanuel Agyemang Badu 34', Christian Atsu 85'
Referee: Mohamed Benouza (Algeria)

• November 18, 2018 (2019 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group F]
Venue: Addis Ababa Stadium
Ethiopia 0-2 Ghana 
Jordan Pierre Ayew (brace) 3', 24' (pen) 
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

• November 14, 2019 (2021 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group C]
Venue: Cape Coast Sports Stadium 
Ghana 2-0 South Africa 
Thomas Partey 36', Mohammed Kudus 80'
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

• Each of referee Mustapha Ghorbal from Algeria's AFCON Qualifiers games officiated involving Ivory Coast and Ghana has produced 2 goals:

• September 6, 2024 (2025 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group G]
Venue: Stade de la Paix, Bouaké
Ivory Coast  2-0 Zambia 
Krasso (brace) 73', 84'
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

• November 18, 2018 (2019 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group F]
Venue: Addis Ababa Stadium
Ethiopia 0-2 Ghana 
Jordan Pierre Ayew (brace) 3', 24' (pen) 
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

• November 14, 2019 (2021 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group C]
Venue: Cape Coast Sports Stadium 
Ghana 2-0 South Africa 
Thomas Partey 36', Mohammed Kudus 80'
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)