Ghana qualify for WAFCON quarter-finals despite draw against Mali in final group game

Clearly the more enterprising side than Mali from the start of the match, Ghana took just two minutes to test Fatoumata Karentao: following a cross from Alice Kusi, who was making a run down the right flank, Doris Boaduwaa met the ball with a header that the Malian goalkeeper gathered in two attempts. 

Saratou Traore then tried her luck straight away with a long-range shot from the edge of the box which looked to be on target but was deflected by her own team-mate, Aissata Traore, for a corner 

Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah then attempted a bold shot from 35 metres, but it posed no threat to Karentao. Then Grace Asantewaa unleashed a floating shot that flew just under the crossbar, but the Malian goalkeeper stretched out to make the save.

Karentao was called into action again from the resulting corner, attempting to catch the ball before any of the Ghanaian headers could reach it.

But she was pushed in the back just as she was about to gather the ball and remained on the ground for some time. Boaduwaa was denied by the Malian goalkeeper once again at the far post, having closed in too closely on the near post. Karentao was eventually replaced after another challenge by the young Aissatou Liberge. 

Shortly after coming on, she was saved by Orokia Sissoko, who cleared another Ghanaian attempt. From a Malian corner, Orokia Sissoko collected a difficult-to-control aerial ball at the far post and saw her half-volley attempt cleared by the Ghanaian defence. 

Ghana could have been awarded a penalty following a heavy foul on Boaduwaa in the box, but the Ghanaian striker was flagged offside at the start of the move.

Mali nearly conceded a own goal just before half-time, after a cross from Kusi was deflected by Marine Coudon towards her own net. Liberge had to make a double save to push the ball clear of her goal and prevent two Ghanaian strikers waiting at the far post from capitalising. 

Boaduwaa missed another huge chance when she was played through between the Malian centre-backs with a well-placed pass and hit the crossbar with her shot whilst one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Liberge came to her team’s rescue one last time by anticipating the move and intercepting the ball at the feet of Evelyn Badu, who was racing clear towards goal. 

But the striker made amends immediately: picked out by a perfect curling cross from Comfort Yeboah, Badu found herself unmarked in the centre and powered a header home from close range. Salimata Diarra had the chance to equalise from a free-kick, but sent it straight into the Ghanaian wall. 

A Malian goal that was not enough...

After the break, Diarra tried again with a half-volley on the edge of the box, but it was blocked by the hand of a Ghanaian defender. This earned Kadidiatou Diabate a good free-kick. And the player who came on at half-time made an immediate impact: she struck her free-kick straight down the middle, but it was deflected by the Blacks Queens’ wall into their own net, sending the ball on an unpredictable trajectory past Cynthia Konlan. 

Mali nearly did it again from a long-range free-kick that Konlan struggled to hold, just ahead of Oumou Kone. Boaduwaa was found at the near post from a corner and smashed a header that skimmed the right-hand post of Liberge’s goal.

Ghana created another huge chance and caused another scramble in the box, only to be incredibly unlucky that the ball did not end up in the net. But the flag went up for offside. Ghana finally thought they had scored their second goal ten minutes later, following a lightning-fast counter-attack and a cross from Boaduwaa to Badu. 

But Ghana’s number 9 was flagged offside at the start of the move. From yet another Malian corner, Konlan came off her line to collect the ball, but injured herself and took a while to get back to her feet. Mali pressed on, to no avail, and it was Ghana who created a fine chance when Linda Owusu broke through, only to find herself too isolated to finish.

Yeboah attempted a daring volley from the right of the box, forcing Liberge into a superb save with his opposite hand to tip the ball away for a corner (89').

With this draw, Ghana and Mali are level on points (4), but Ghana have a better goal difference (+1 to 0), which sees them through to the quarter-finals. The Black Queens finish second, behind Cameroon, who secured top spot with a 1–1 draw against Cape Verde.

At the last Africa Cup of Nations, Ghana finished third. They will face Malawi, the competition’s newcomers, in the quarter-finals. Mali, meanwhile, would have needed to win the match to progress to the next round.

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