The Black Stars take on the Scorpions at the Accra Sports Stadium today without injured defender Alexander Djiku, after losing their opening qualifier in Cote d’Ivoire.
Ghana's senior national football team, the Black Stars, face The Gambia's Scorpions at the Accra Sports Stadium today at 4pm, needing a win to rescue a qualifying campaign that began badly.
The match is a Group C fixture in the qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the continent's biggest national team tournament. Ghana lost their opening game to Cote d'Ivoire in Bouake and go into today's fixture without a single point.
Djiku ruled out
Head coach Carlos Queiroz will be without defender Alexander Djiku, who picked up an injury during the defeat in Bouake and was forced off the pitch. The Ghanaian Times reports that he has now been confirmed unavailable for the home game, despite hopes that he would recover in time.
The timing is poor for both player and team. Djiku missed Ghana's 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign through injury and had been working his way back into the squad. His experience was expected to steady a defence that is still being reshaped under the Portuguese coach.
A long injury list
Djiku is not the only absentee. Captain Jordan Ayew, Mohammed Kudus and Antoine Semenyo all missed the opening fixture. Kudus had initially been recalled after a long spell out, but later withdrew from the squad to continue his recovery and regain full fitness.
That leaves Queiroz picking from a thinner pool. Among the defensive options available are Jonas Adjetey, Jerome Opoku and Gideon Mensah, and one of the coach's main decisions before kick-off will be how to rebuild the back line without Djiku's experience.
Why the Scorpions arrive confident
The Gambia come to Accra on three points after beating Somalia 2-1 in their first Group C match. That early win gives them the advantage in the standings and raises the stakes for Ghana.
Group C has four teams: Ghana, The Gambia, Cote d'Ivoire and Somalia. With a small number of matches to play, a second dropped result would leave the Black Stars under real pressure this early in the campaign.
What to watch
For Ghanaians following from the United States and elsewhere abroad, the kick-off time is 4pm Ghana time, which is the same as GMT.
The simple test today is whether Ghana can respond in front of a home crowd. A win puts them level on points with The Gambia and steadies the campaign. Anything less, and the questions around Queiroz's selection and Ghana's growing injury problems will only get louder.
