Ghana have parted company with manager Carlos Queiroz by mutual consent after losing 4-2 to The Gambia in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The Black Stars led 2-0 after 33 minutes at Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday, 29 September, despite The Gambia recovering to win. Ghana had 74% possession but managed only four shots on target, compared with five for their opponents, according to API-Football.
“Those two goals in the first half killed the morale and made my players nervous,” Portuguese coach Queiroz said at his post-match news conference, according to the Ghana Football Association website, in comments translated by SNA.
The dismissal was reported by Graphic Online and GBC on Thursday.
Ghana are bottom of Group C without a point, alongside Ethiopia as the only former Africa Cup of Nations winners yet to register in the current campaign. Cote d’Ivoire and The Gambia have six points.
Guinea-Bissau are among the teams with a perfect record after beating Tanzania 2-0 in Zanzibar before defeating Nigeria 3-0. The Djurtus have not conceded a goal.
Four former champions – Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, DR Congo and South Africa – have won both matches. Congo have one point and Tunisia two, while Ghana and Ethiopia remain on zero.
Of the 15 nations to have won the Africa Cup of Nations, 52 points have been collected from a possible 90. Former champions have taken 38 of 60 points against teams that have never won the tournament, a success rate of 63%. They have won 11 of those 20 matches, drawn five and lost four: Congo 0-1 Namibia, Ghana 2-4 The Gambia, Sudan 1-4 Mozambique and Nigeria 0-3 Guinea-Bissau.
Host nations face a tighter route
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are co-hosts and have already qualified, but are still taking part in the qualifying competition under the format confirmed by CAF after the 19 May draw.
Only the highest-placed non-host in Groups D, H and L qualifies, rather than two teams as in the other groups. Uganda lead Group H with four points, but the single qualifying place is currently held by Botswana ahead of Tunisia, with both on two points according to API-Football. Tunisia have drawn 1-1 with Uganda and 2-2 with Botswana at home.
In Group L, Guinea-Bissau have six points, Nigeria three and Madagascar one. South Africa lead Group D with six points after a 5-0 win against Eritrea in Cairo on Wednesday, when Relebohile Mofokeng scored twice.
Of the 46 completed matches counted by 1 October at 13:00 Brazzaville time, 12 were played outside the home country of the designated hosts. Those fixtures produced six wins for the displaced sides, or 50%, compared with 18 wins in 34 matches played in the host nation, or 53%.
The matches have produced 122 goals at an average of 2.65 per game. There has been one 0-0 draw, between Egypt and Angola, while South Africa and Egypt have both recorded 5-0 away wins against Eritrea in Cairo and South Sudan in Juba respectively.
Second-round action is not complete: Guinea play Kenya in Conakry on Thursday at 16:00 GMT (17:00 in Brazzaville), while Angola face Malawi on 6 October. The third and fourth rounds are scheduled for 9-17 November, according to CAF.
