A defeat for the Black Queens of Ghana would signify a mammoth failure for the team, head coach Kim Lars Björkegren, and Ghanaian football as a whole.

Every fan of the team or Ghanaian must’ve hoped the team built on the 2025 WAFCON’s third-place finish in this year’s edition in Morocco.

With the team’s current state after two games into the tournament, the last Group D game against Mali appears to be one that promises to get tense.

After a commanding 2-0 opening win over the tournament’s newbies, Cape Verde, a 1-0 defeat to Cameroon slowed down Ghana’s momentum.

Now, Mali and Ghana are set to battle it out to book the second place should Cameroon beat Cape Verde in Thursday’s matchday 3 fixtures.

Speaking to the media before the game, the head coach of Ghana, Kim Lars, played down any feeling of pressure on his side.

“We don’t have any pressure at all, not for a single second,” Björkegren told reporters during his pre-match press conference. “I think for the girls, I can’t talk for them, but they look pretty relaxed. We have, of course, been talking about football and things like that, but we also try to relax a little bit and talk about other things.”