Ghana’s under-23 side begins a two-legged tie on Wednesday that could put the country back on the road to Olympic football after more than two decades away.
Ghana's Black Meteors, the national under-23 football team, are in Libya ahead of the first leg of their qualifier for the 2027 CAF Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations.
The squad, led by head coach Desmond Ofei, landed at Benina International Airport in Benghazi on Sunday, 8 November 2026, Daily Guide Network reports.
When and where to watch
The first leg takes place at the Benghazi International Stadium on Wednesday, 11 November. Kick-off is 7pm local time, which is 5pm in Ghana.
The return leg will be played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday, 17 November 2026. For Ghanaians in the United States, the Wednesday first leg at 5pm Ghana time falls in the early-to-mid afternoon on the East Coast, given that Ghana runs on GMT year-round.
What is at stake
CAF, the Confederation of African Football, is running the qualifying series in three stages. Ghana was handed a bye in the first round and enters at this point.
Whoever wins the tie on aggregate across the two legs moves on to the next qualifying round, where the opponent will be either Equatorial Guinea or Niger.
The final tournament will be an eight-team event hosted by Egypt. The hosts take one slot automatically, leaving seven places to be filled through qualification.
The Olympic link
The under-23 AFCON matters beyond the trophy itself. The competition is the pathway Africa uses to decide which teams represent the continent in men's football at the Olympic Games.
Ghana's last appearance in the men's Olympic football tournament was at the 2004 Games in Athens. That is an absence stretching back more than two decades, and qualifying for the 2027 under-23 tournament would be a meaningful step towards closing that gap.
For a country that once had a strong reputation in age-group football, the drought has been a sore point for supporters at home and in the diaspora. The Black Meteors have repeatedly fallen short at the qualifying stage in recent cycles.
The road ahead
For now, the immediate task for Ofei's side is managing an away trip to North Africa. Benghazi, in eastern Libya, is an unfamiliar venue for most Ghanaian sides, and the team will want to protect itself from a heavy first-leg defeat before returning to Accra.
A home second leg at the Accra Sports Stadium gives Ghana the chance to settle the tie in front of local support. If the Black Meteors get through, attention turns to Equatorial Guinea or Niger in the next round, with the finals in Egypt as the prize.
