Black Queens head coach Kim Lars Björkegren thinks Ghana’s tough schedule, with little time to rest and travel before their 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final against Malawi, contributed to the team’s loss.
After finishing second in Group D, the Black Queens had less time to recover than some other teams and had to travel to Rabat before the knockout match.
Ghana took an early lead with a goal from Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah, but they could not hold on and lost 2-1 to Malawi.
Björkegren said the short turnaround hurt the team’s energy, pointing to midfielder Alice Kusi as an example.
“We talked about it in the press conference yesterday that we had fewer rest days before this game, including some traveling,” Björkegren said.
“Of course, you can potentially see that Alice is a good example that I talked about, that I felt she started the game really well, but she couldn’t hold up her performance and probably because she was tired.”
The Swedish coach thinks Kusi’s recent busy schedule affected her as the game went on.
“She played a couple of days ago, and you probably need one more day to get fit, but it’s out of our control.”
Björkegren also mentioned that the tournament schedule put Group D teams at a disadvantage because they had less time to recover before the quarter-finals.
“That’s just a fact when you are in Group D that you will always have fewer days to recover,” he added.
The Black Queens started well and seemed in control after Boye-Hlorkah’s early goal, but they could not keep up their intensity for the whole match. Malawi came back to win.
The loss ended Ghana’s chances of reaching the WAFCON semi-finals and earning automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
However, the Black Queens still have a chance to qualify for the World Cup. They will play Côte d’Ivoire in the WAFCON play-in on Thursday, and a win would send them to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Play-Off Tournament.
Ghana will now try to recover and regroup as they work to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
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