2027 AFCON QUALIFIERS  PREVIEW: THE BLACK STARS OF GHANA TO FACE THE SCORPIONS OF GAMBI

By: Isaac Amponsah (Dr Ike)

Predictions: Home win/draw

• The 4-time AFCON Champions, Ghana, will welcome the 2021 AFCON Quarter-finalist, Gambia, in the 2027 AFCON Qualifiers Group C Round 2 fixture at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.

• Head-to-Head at AFCON Qualifiers: 

• This fixture will be the first AFCON Qualifiers game between the Black Stars of Ghana and the Scorpions of Gambia.

• November 12, 1994 (1996 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group 3] {Results Annulled}
Venue: Independence Stadium, Bakau
Gambia                       1-2 Ghana *** 
Manneh 20'//Akonnor 34', Amankwah 42'
Referee: Sackie Kennedy (Liberia)
NB: Gambia and Niger withdrew after completing 5 matches each; their results were annulled. Central African Republic withdrew without playing any match.

• Match Facts:

• The Black Stars of Ghana are ranked 65th in the FIFA rankings (July 20, 2026), but their highest 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.

• The Scorpions of Gambia are ranked 116th by the latest FIFA rankings (July 20, 2026), but their highest was 65th in June 2009.

• Their first international game was February 9, 1953 (British Gambia 2-1 Sierra Leone) in Gambia.

• Player Records:

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

• Gambia's most-capped player: Omar Colley (62 caps, 1 goal).

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

• Gambia's all-time top scorer: Musa Barrow (14 goals, 52 caps).

• Team Information:

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

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

• 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.

• The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) was officially founded on November 3, 1952. They joined CAF in 1966 and FIFA in 1968. 

• Ghana Records at AFCON Qualifiers:

• Ghana started playing the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers in 1961 for the Ethiopia 1962 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 on four (4) times (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982).

• Ghana have lost five (5) times at Home in the AFCON Qualifiers since 1961:

• June 20, 1971 (1972 AFCON Qualifiers) [Second round]
Venue: Accra Sports Stadium 
Ghana                         0-1 Togo
Damawuzan Justin Ayitegan 60' 

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

• Monday, March 30, 1987 (First Round) [1988 AFCON Qualifiers]
Venue: Accra Sports Stadium 
Ghana                         1-2 Sierra Leone
Abdul Razak Karim 80'//John Dumbaya (brace) 6', 55'
Referee: Samuel Coker (Gambia)

• September 5, 2024 (2025 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group F]
Venue: Baba Yara Sports Stadium 
Ghana                         0-1 Angola 
Felicio Milson 90+3'
Referee: Samuel Uwikunda (Rwanda)

• November 18, 2024 (2025 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group F]
Venue: Accra Sports Stadium 
Ghana                         1-2 Niger
Jerry Afriyie 67'//Ousseini Badamassi 22', Oumar Sako 90+2'
Referee: Rulisa Patience Fidele (Central African Republic)

• Additional Facts:

• Ghana are winless in their last seven (7) AFCON Qualifiers (D3 L4 GF3 GA9):
• 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 
• 24/09/26 Ivory Coast 2-0 Ghana 

• The last time Black Stars of Ghana won a home game in the AFCON Qualifiers was September 7, 2023, against Central African Republic in the 2023 AFCON Qualifiers in Group E fixture (2-1).

• Gambia have won thrice in their last seven (7) AFCON Qualifiers (W3 D2 L12 GF8 GA7):
• 04/09/2024 Comoros     1-1 Gambia 
• 08/09/2024 Gambia       1-2 Tunisia ***
11/10/2024 Madagascar 1-1 Tunisia 
• 14/10/2024 Gambia       1-0 Madagascar 
• 15/11/2024 Gambia       1-2 Comoros ***
• 18/11/2024 Tunisia        0-1 Gambia ***
• 24/09/2026 Gambia       2-1 Somalia

• Gambia Records at AFCON Qualifiers:

• Gambia started playing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers in 1974 for the Ethiopia 1976 AFCON.

• The first country to play Gambia at the AFCON Qualifiers was Morocco.
November 24, 1974 (Preliminary Round)
Venue: Stade d'Honneur, Casablanca 
Morocco                    3-0 Gambia 

• The Scorpions of Gambia won their first Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier on April 29, 1979, against Togo in the 1980 AFCON Qualifiers at the Box Bar Stadium, Banjul (1-0).

• Gambia have qualified for the AFCON tournament on 2 occasions since 1976, and their best result is finishing in the Quarter-finals in 2021.

• The last time the Scorpions of Gambia won an Away game in an AFCON Qualifiers was November 18, 2024 in the 2025 AFCON Qualifiers in Group A fixture (0-1) courtesy Abdoulie Ceesay on the 17th minute. Referee Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea from Ghana was in charge.

• Gambia have scored in each of their last ten (10) AFCON Qualifiers games (12 goals in 10 games).

• Two nations' AFCON Qualifiers games in September:

• Black Stars of Ghana have played 23 AFCON Qualifiers games in September since qualification to the 1962 tournament (W11 D5 L7 GF37 GA21).

• Ghana have played 12 Home AFCON qualifiers in September since qualification to the 1962 edition (W7 D3 L2 GF17 GA8).
• 09/09/1973 Ghana         0-3 Ivory Coast ***
• 01/09/1985 Ghana         0-0 Ivory Coast 
• 01/09/1990 Ghana        1-0 Nigeria 
• 04/09/1994 Ghana        4-1 Sierra Leone 
• 05/09/2004 Ghana        2-0 Cape Verde 
• 04/09/2005 Ghana        2-0 Uganda 
• 02/09/2011 Ghana        2-0 Swaziland 
• 08/09/2012 Ghana        2-0 Malawi 
• 06/09/2014 Ghana        1-1 Uganda  
• 03/09/2016 Ghana        1-1 Rwanda 
• 07/09/2023 Ghana        2-1 Central African Republic 
• 05/09/2024 Ghana        0-1 Angola ***

• Gambia have played 11 AFCON Qualifiers games in September since qualification to 1976 tournament (W4 D3 L4 GF15 GA12).

• Gambia are winless in their previous Away AFCON Qualifiers games played in September since qualifications to 1976 AFCON (D1 L2 GF1 GA4):
• 03/09/2011 Namibia   1-0 Gambia 
• 03/09/2016 Cameroon 2-0 Gambia 
• 04/09/2024 Comoros   1-1 Gambia 

• Gambia have conceded in each of their previous Away AFCON Qualifiers games played in September since qualifications to 1976 tournament (conceding 4 goals in 3 games).

• Two nations' AFCON Qualifiers games on Tuesday:

• Ghana lost their only AFCON Qualifiers game played on Tuesday since qualifications to 1962 AFCON (L1 GF0 GA1):

• Tuesday, November, 17, 2020 (Group C) [2021 AFCON Qualifiers]
Venue: Al-Hilal Stadium, Omdurman 
Sudan                         1-0 Ghana 
Mohamed Abdel Rahman 90+2'
Referee: Joshua Bondo (Botswana)

• Gambia have won once in their previous AFCON Qualifiers games played on Tuesday since qualification to the 1976 AFCON (W1 D2 L1 GF3 GA3):

• March 29, 2016 (Group M) [2017 AFCON Qualifiers]
Venue: Independence Stadium, Bakau
Gambia                       0-0 Mauritania
Referee: Fidel Gomes (Guinea-Bissau)
 
• October 16, 2018 (Group D) [2019 AFCON Qualifiers]
Venue: Independence Stadium, Bakau 
Gambia                       0-1 Togo ***
Floyd Ayite 90'
Referee: Helder Martins de Carvalho (Angola)

• March 29, 2022 (Preliminary Round) [2023 AFCON Qualifiers]
Venue: Agadir, Morocco (neutral venue as Gambia's home stadium did not meet international standards)
Gambia                       2-2 Chad
Assan Ceesay (brace)//Ahmat Abderamane, Ezechiel N'Douassel 

• March 28, 2023 (Group G) [2023 AFCON Qualifiers]
Venue: Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca (Morocco)
Gambia                       1-0 Mali
Omar Colley 79'
Referee: Kouassi Attisso Attiogbe (Togo)

• Center Referee: Mustapha Kechaf (Morocco)

• Mustapha Kechaf was born on April 10, 1986, in Morocco. He has been listed as a FIFA referee to officiate international matches since 2021.

• Background: Mustapha Kechaf received his FIFA international status after 15 years of refereeing in domestic Moroccan competitions, taking over the international spot previously held by Hicham Tiazi.

• Ghana vs Gambia will be Mustapha Kechaf of Morocco's first official AFCON Qualifiers game since being listed as a FIFA referee to officiate international matches in 2021.

• This fixture will be the second time a referee from Morocco will officiate a Ghana game at the AFCON Qualifiers since 2012.

• March 24, 2016 (2017 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group H]
Venue: Accra Sports Stadium 
Ghana                         3-1 Mozambique 
Frank Acheampong 5', John Boye 55', Jordan Pierre Ayew 57'//Apson Manjate 66'
Referee: Bouchaib El Ahrach (Morocco)

• This fixture will be the second time a referee from Morocco will officiate a Gambia game at the AFCON Qualifiers since 2012.

• October 14, 2024 (2025 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group A]
Venue: Ben M'Hamed El Abdi Stadium, El Jadida (Morocco)
Gambia                       1-0 Madagascar 
Musa Barrow 62'
Referee: Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco)

• Ghana are currently 4th with 0 points after Matchday 1 games, while Gambia are 2nd with 3 points in Group C of the 2027 AFCON Qualifiers log.