Black Queens head coach Kim Lars Björkegren says Ghana’s qualification for the quarter-finals of the 2026 TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) is an important achievement for the team.
The Swedish coach revealed that reaching the knockout stage was one of three major targets set for the Black Queens ahead of the tournament.
Ghana secured their place in the last eight after drawing 1-1 with Mali in their final Group C match, finishing second in the group with four points.
Björkegren was pleased with the overall performance but admitted that the team made the closing stages unnecessarily difficult by failing to finish the game earlier.
“Going to the playoffs was one of our three targets this summer with the Black Queens. The game was the best that we have played. The only thing I can be disappointed about is the fact that we were nervous in the end. We should close this game way earlier,” he said.
The coach pointed to Ghana’s dominance during the match, saying the statistics showed that the Black Queens created enough opportunities to win comfortably.
According to him, Ghana recorded an expected goals (xG) figure of about 3.3 compared with Mali’s 0.6, suggesting that the Black Queens had the better chances throughout the encounter.
“In a normal game, you win with 3-0 or something like that. But in the end, we needed to be nervous. That’s the only thing I can complain about. Otherwise, I think we played really good football,” Björkegren said.
He was particularly impressed with Ghana’s start to the match and described the first half as the team’s best performance of the tournament so far.
Björkegren said the players were well prepared from the opening whistle and praised them for securing the point required to progress.
Ghana’s qualification also puts the Black Queens one victory away from securing a place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The coach acknowledged the significance of the upcoming quarter-final, noting that the match is effectively a crucial step towards Ghana’s return to the global tournament.
Ghana will now turn its attention to the quarter-finals, where the Black Queens will face Malawi as they chase a place in the semi-finals and a potential return to the Women’s World Cup.
