The Palancas Negras of Angola have shot down all hopes of the Black Stars of Ghana qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Sudan’s unexpected 4-0 loss to Niger presented the Black Stars an opportunity to grab a half-chance of miraculously making it to the continental competition.
Zini broke the hopeful hearts of some millions of Ghanaians in the 64th minutes with a powerful header past Abdul Manaf Nurudeen to level the game.
Jordan Ayew, who captained the Black Stars on the night in Luanda, led exceptionally by example despite the fact that he would have hoped his team ended the night victors.
The Leicester City forward’s exquisite free-kick shocked the whole of Luanda just 18 minutes into the game to get fans dreaming.
However, the Black Stars sadly switched their game plan to a more defensive one, allowing the Angolans to run behind them despite the excellent individual performances by Nations FC’s Razak Simpson and Gideon Mensah.
With Ghana’s fate confirmed, attention will now turn to the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, where the Black Stars are joint-top with Comoros in their group, after the conclusion of the AFCON qualifiers, when they take on Niger at the Accra Sports Stadium on Monday, November 18.
