Leicester City striker Jordan Ayew found the net for Ghana in a 1-1 draw with Angola on Friday, but his goal was not enough to prevent the four-time champions from being eliminated in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
Ghana’s exit marks the first time they will miss the tournament since 2004.
Ayew opened the scoring in the 18th minute in Luanda, but Angola responded in the second half, with Ambrosini ‘Zini’ Salvador equalizing in the 64th minute.
Despite the draw, Ghana finished bottom of their qualifying group, four points behind Sudan, who secured the second automatic qualifying spot.
With just one round of matches remaining, Ghana’s failure to progress confirmed their absence from the finals.
The Black Stars, who were missing eight key players, including Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo due to injuries, delivered one of their better performances in the penultimate round, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to overcome their earlier setbacks.
Meanwhile, there were celebrations for the underdogs in Group A as Comoros, a small island nation off the southeastern coast of Africa, secured a dramatic 2-1 win over Gambia to clinch their place in Morocco.
Comoros, who stunned Tunisia in the previous round, were trailing 1-0 after Alassana Jatta’s first-half strike for Gambia, but Rafiki Said leveled the score five minutes later.
Myziane Maolida then scored in the final minute to seal the win and qualification.
Mali, Zambia, and Zimbabwe also secured their spots in next year’s tournament, bringing the total number of teams confirmed for Morocco to 19.
The remaining five places will be decided in the final round of qualifiers.
Zambia sealed their place with a 1-0 victory over defending champions Ivory Coast in Ndola. This marked a second consecutive defeat for the Ivorians, who had also suffered a shock loss to Sierra Leone in the previous round.
Tanzania-based Kennedy Musonda notched the only goal after 43 minutes — his third of the qualifying campaign.
While Ivory Coast were assured of qualification on Wednesday after Chad and Sierra Leone drew, the latest loss is sure to trigger soul searching between coach Emerse Fae and his squad.
Fae masterminded a remarkable comeback at the 2024 AFCON as the host nation recovered from a four-goal group hammering by Equatorial Guinea to defeat Nigeria in the final.
• Mali win in tense Mozambique –
Having being barred from the last AFCON qualifying tournament due to government interference, Zimbabwe will make a sixth appearance at the finals after drawing 1-1 with Kenya in Polokwane.
Needing one point to secure a place from Group J and eliminate Kenya, Zimbabwe went ahead in the first half through Tawanda Maswanhise, who plays for Scottish Premiership outfit Motherwell.
Jonah Ayunga levelled early in the second half for the Harambee Stars, who have qualified for only two editions of the biennial AFCON tournament in the past 30 years.
Kamory Doumbia netted after 19 minutes to earn Mali a 1-0 Group I win over Mozambique in Maputo and a 10th straight qualification for the African football showcase.
A tight security blanket covered the top-of-the-table clash after several weeks of protests following disputed election results which saw the Frelimo party retain power.
Mali wanted the qualifier moved to a neutral country and later asked for the match to be staged behind closed doors, but the Confederation of African Football rejected both requests.
Mozambique need a point from their final fixture, in Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday, to qualify. A win for fellow contenders Guinea-Bissau would see second place decided by the head-to-head rule.
Botswana squandered a chance to qualify as they were held 1-1 by Mauritania in Group C in Francistown. Gilbert Baruti equalised after Aboubakary Koita put the visitors ahead.
However, the Zebras do hold a three-point lead in second place ahead of a tough final assignment away to runaway group winners Egypt.
South Africa replaced Uganda at Group K leaders after winning a showdown between two already-qualified countries 2-0 in Kampala.
Both goals came in the second half from substitutes with Thapelo Morena punishing a defensive blunder to break the deadlock and Patrick Maswanganyi doubling the lead.
