2027 AFCON QUALIFIERS PREVIEW: THE BLACK STARS OF GHANA WILL FACE THE SOMALIA NATIONAL TEAM IN A CRUCIAL FIXTURE 

By: Isaac Amponsah (Dr Ike)

Predictions: Home win/draw

• The 4-time AFCON Champions, Ghana, will welcome the Ocean Stars of Somalia in the 2027 AFCON Qualifiers Group C Round 3 fixture at the Essipong Sports Stadium, Sekondi, on Thursday, November 12, 2026.

• Head-to-Head at AFCON Qualifiers: 

• This fixture will be the third AFCON Qualifiers game between the Black Stars of Ghana and the Ocean Stars of Somalia.

• November 16, 2003 (2006 AFCON/World Cup Qualifiers) [First Round]
Venue: Ohene Djan Sports Stadium, Accra
Somalia                      0-5 Ghana ***
Nana Arhin Duah (brace) 25', 56', Isaac Boakye (brace) 69', 89', Asamoah Gyan 82' 
Referee: Bakoubebile Bebou (Togo)

• November 19, 2003 (2006 AFCON/World Cup Qualifiers) [First Round]
Venue: Baba Yara Sports Stadium
Ghana                         2-0 Somalia
Stephen Appiah 27', Lawrence Adjei 90'
Referee: Ibrahim Chaibou (Niger)

• Ghana won 7-0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

• Ghana has a 100% win rate against Somalia across their 2 historical head-to-head matches, outscoring them 7 goals to none.

• Match Facts:

• The Black Stars of Ghana are ranked 70th in the FIFA rankings (October 7, 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.

• The Ocean Stars of Somalia are ranked 200th by the Flatest IFA lasted rankings (October 7, 2026) but their highest was 65th in April-June 1996.

• Their first international game was in 1958 (Kenya 5-1 Somalia) in Mombasa, Kenya.

• Player Records:

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

• Somalia' most caps player: Omar Abdulkadir (31 caps, 0 goal).

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

• Somalia's all-time joint-top scorer: Mohamed Ali Abdi Nur and Abdullahi Sheikh Mohamed (3 goals each, 8 and 6 caps respectively).

• Team Information:

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

• Somalia is located in Central and East Africa, which is part of the CECAFA 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 Somalia Football Federation (SFF) was officially established in 1951. They joined FIFA in 1962 and CAF 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, 196,1, 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).

• Ghana have lost six (6) 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)

• September 29, 2026 (2027 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group C]
Venue: Accra Sports Stadium 
Ghana                         2-4 Gamba 
Ernest Nuamah 27' (pen), Felix Afena-Gyan 33' // Muhammed Badamosi 37' (pen), Omar Colley 42', Ebrima Colley (brace) 68', 90+2'
Goal scorers:
Referee: Mustapha Kechaf (Morocco)
• NB: First time in Black Stars history, Ghana conceded 4 goals in an AFCON qualifier, and the first Gambia win over Ghana in 33 years.
• NB: Defeat led to Carlos Queiroz's departure as Black Stars coach.

• Additional Facts:

• Ghana are winless in their last eight (8) AFCON Qualifiers (D3 L5 GF2 GA13):
• 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 
• 29/09/2024 Ghana     2-4 Gambia ***

• The last time Black Stars of Ghana won a home game in the AFCON Qualifiers was September 7, 202,3 against the Central African Republic in the 2023 AFCON Qualifiers in Group E (2-1).

• Somalia Records at AFCON Qualifiers:

• Somalia started playing in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers in 1973 for the 1974 AFCON in Egypt.

• The first country to play Somalia at the AFCON Qualifiers was Uganda.
March 10, 1973 (Preliminary Round)
Venue: Stade d'Honneur, Casablanca 
Somalia                      2-0 Uganda 

• The Ocean Stars of Somalia won their first Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers on March 10, 1973, against Uganda in the 1974 AFCON Qualifiers at Mogadishu Stadium, Mogadishu (2-0).

• Somalia have failed to qualify for an AFCON tournament in their 10 attempt,s including the 2027 editions. 

• 44 out of 54 have qualified for the finals in the past. Only 10 of 54 active CAF members have never appeared in Africa's biggest football tournament (AFCON) since 1957, including Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Lesotho, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, South Sudan, and Somalia.

• The Ocean Stars of Somalia made history in March 2026:
2027 AFCON Preliminary Round:
Somalia 0-0 Mauritius (1st leg)
Mauritius 0-0 Somalia (2nd leg) - Somalia won 4-2 on penalties.

• That was the first time Somalia ever advanced past the preliminary round of the AFCON Qualifiers. They are now in Group C with Ghana, Ivory Coast, and The Gambia for AFCON 2027 in Kenya/Uganda/Tanzania.

• Somalia are winless in their last fourteen (14) AFCON Qualifiers games in regulation time (D4 L10 GF4 GA28):
• 23/11/1984 Kenya      1-0 Somalia 
• 05/10/1986 Uganda   5-0 Somalia 
• 19/10/1986 Somalia  0-0 Uganda 
• 16/11/2003 Somalia  0-5 Ghana 
• 19/11/2003 Ghana     2-0 Somalia 
• 16/11/2007 Djibouti   1-0 Somalia 
• 23/03/2022 Somalia  0-3 Eswatini ***
• 27/03/2022 Eswatini  2-1 Somalia 
• 20/03/2024 Somalia   0-3 Eswatini 
• 26/03/2024 Eswatini  2-2 Somalia 
• 27/03/2026 Somalia   0-0 Mauritius 
• 31/03/2026 Mauritius 0-0 Somalia 
• 25/09/2026 Gambia    2-1 Somalia 
• 29/09/2026 Somalia   0-2 Ivory Coast 

• But on March 31, 20,26 in the 2027 AFCON Qualifiers Preliminary round fixture, Somalia won 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 scoreline and qualified for the Group phase for the first time.

• The last time the Ocean Stars of Somalia won an Away game in an AFCON Qualifier was August 24, 1974, against Burundi in the 1976 AFCON Qualifiers in the Preliminary round fixture (0-1).

• Somalia have conceded 2+ goals in each of their last two AFCON Qualifiers games (4 goals in 2 games).

• Two nations' AFCON Qualifiers games in November:

• Black Stars of Ghana have played 11 AFCON Qualifiers games in November since qualification to the 1962 tournament (W7 D1 L3 GF19 GA6). 

• Ghana have played 5 Home AFCON qualifiers in November since qualification for the 1962 edition (W4 D0 L1 GF10 GA3).
• 19/11/2003 Ghana 2-0 Somalia 
• 19/11/2014 Ghana 3-1 Togo
• 14/11/2019 Ghana 2-0 South Africa 
• 12/11/2020 Ghana 2-0 Sudan 
• 18/11/2024 Ghana 1-2 Niger ***

• The Ocean Stars of Somalia have played 5 AFCON qualifier games in November since qualification for the 1974 tournament (W1 L4 GF1 GA9):

• Somalia have played 3 Away AFCON qualifiers in November since qualification for the 1974 tournament (L3 GF0 GA4):
• 23/11/1984 Kenya    1-0 Somalia 
• 19/11/2003 Ghana   2-0 Somalia 
• 16/11/2007 Djibouti 1-0 Somalia

• Two nations' AFCON Qualifiers games on Thursday:

• Ghana have played 9 AFCON qualifiers on Thursday since 1961 (W5  D2  L2 GF11  GA6).
• 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
• 24/9/2026 Ivory Coast     2-0 Ghana

• Somalia fixture against Ghana on Thursday, November 12, 2026 will be the first time the Ocean Stars of Somalia will play an AFCON Qualifiers game on Thursday since qualification for the 1974 tournament.

• Match Officials:

• Referee: Andre Onesime Kolissala-Mbangui (Central African Republic)
• Assistant Referee I: Bozoy Oriya Zaoubaye Wilfried De (Central African Republic)
• Assistant Referee II: Juan Ngua Nguema Eleng (Equatorial Guinea)
• Fourth Official: Gerson Adolfo Mico Esono Angono (Equatorial Guinea)
• Match Commissioner: Mohammed Sanusi (Nigeria)

• Center Referee: Andre Onesime Kolissala-Mbangui 

 • Andre Onesime Kolissala-Mbangui is a football referee from the Central African Republic, and he has been listed as an international FIFA referee since 2015.

 • Ghana vs Somalia will be Andre Onesime Kolissala-Mbangui of the Central African Republic's first AFCON Qualifiers game officiated involving the two nations since been listed as a FIFA referee to officiate international matches in 2015.

• This fixture will be the second time a referee from the Central African Republic will officiate a Ghana game at the AFCON Qualifiers since 2004.

• The Black Stars of Ghana lost their only previous AFCON Qualifiers game officiated by a Central African Republic referee since 2004:

• 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) 

• This fixture will be the first time a referee from the Central African Republic will officiate a Somalia game at the AFCON Qualifiers since 2006.

• Ghana are currently 4th with 0 points after Matchday 2 games, while Somalia, on the other hand, are 3rd with 0 points on the Group C of the 2027 AFCON Qualifiers log.