Ghana’s under-17 side took a two-stage bus trip through Bolgatanga to Burkina Faso ahead of a tournament that doubles as a qualifier for the 2027 U17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Ghana's Black Starlets, the national under-17 football team, arrived in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, after a road trip of more than 20 hours, ahead of the WAFU Zone B U17 Championship starting on Saturday, October 10. WAFU is the West African Football Union, the regional body under the Confederation of African Football.
The journey was done in two stages. The squad first travelled from Accra to Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, where they camped for four days and trained at the Winkogo Technical Centre. They then boarded a bus on Tuesday for the final leg across the border to the Burkinabe capital.
Straight from Morocco camp
The trip came only days after the team returned from Morocco, where they played two friendly matches against the host nation as part of their build-up. Ghana won the first game 2-0. Morocco took the second 2-1, scoring with the final kick of the match.
That sequence means the young players have had an unusually heavy travel load in a short window: an international camp abroad, a domestic trip north, and then a long cross-border bus ride, all inside the fortnight before competitive football.
What is at stake
The Starlets are in Group B with Togo, Benin and hosts Burkina Faso. The top two teams in the group qualify for the 2027 U17 Africa Cup of Nations.
For Ghana, age-group qualification matters beyond the trophy. The Black Starlets are the country's most decorated junior side historically, and the U17 AFCON is the standard route to the FIFA U17 World Cup, where Ghanaian teenagers have often first come to the attention of European clubs. For Ghanaians following from the United States and elsewhere in the diaspora, this is the tournament where the next generation of names usually surfaces.
Questions about the journey
Daily Guide Network reports that the long road trip has prompted questions about logistics and the welfare of the teenage players, especially given security problems in parts of the wider Sahel region.
There is no indication that the delegation ran into any security incident on the way. The specific security arrangements made for the team have not been disclosed publicly.
No official explanation has been given for why the squad travelled by road rather than by air, and neither the Ghana Football Association nor the team management has issued a public statement on the arrangements.
Next
The championship opens on Saturday, October 10 in Ouagadougou. Ghana's group fixtures will determine whether the side keeps its 2027 AFCON ambitions alive.
