Black Stars fall to Comoros …In World Cup qualifier
The Black Stars of Ghana suffered their first defeat in the last leg of qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup when they lost 1-0 to Comoros yesterday.
Myziano Maolida delivered the sucker-punch late in the first half with a beautiful goal that sent the stadium into ruptures.
It was Comoros’ second consecutive defeat of the Black Stars, having edged Ghana from the last Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon at the group stage.
And it took them to the top of World Cup qualifying Group I table with six points from two games, followed in second and third by Mali (4points) and Madagascar (3points) as Ghana occupy the fourth spot with three points.
With a reported injury concerns with Kudus Mohammed, Andre Ayew led the Stars charge, hoping to put up an improved performance over the first game in Kumasi which they escaped narrowly with a late Inaki Williams heading goal.
Comoros went straight into action after the referee’s whistle, earning the first corner kick of the match in less than two minutes.
But despite the early dominance by the home side, it was Ghana that created the first decent chance of the high-on-energy afternoon as the Stars countered with Inaki Williams, who broke his goal scoring deadlock on Friday against Madagascar, setting up Antoine Semenyo.
With only the goalkeeper Ben Bolina at his mercy, Semenyo missed the glorious chance to the relief of the home fans.
The game became a ding dong affair with both sides trying to establish control but it was the Ghanaians that looked threatening, going forward.
In one of the few surging runs upfront, Jordan Ayew was picked up by a good cross to the area but his header missed the target as the Stars rued their misses.
Comoros accepted the challenge and launched an attack on their own as a Kassim M’Dahoma’s shot at goal was deflected to corner in the 23rd minute.
The resultant kick was floated into the Ghana area and created a melee from which a header towards goal was parried over the bar by Richard Ofori in post for Ghana for a second corner in a minute.
Myziano Maolida put Comoros ahead with a beautiful goal that Richard Ofori had no answer to.
After taking possession, Maolida chose what looked like the difficult path, taking on three Ghanaian players who he dribbled past comfortably before cutting in on his favourite right foot to riffle home the opener in the 43rd minute.
Chris Hughton threw on Kudus Mohammed in place of Skipper Andre Ayew who had a terrible afternoon.
That made the team a lot more focused in attack as play switched from one side of the field to the other as the Black Stars tried to find ways to unlock the solid defence of the Comorians.
By the 51st minute, Ghana had wasted two glorious opportunities, the second of which fell to Inaki Williams who towered to head over the crossbar.
Hughton followed up with the introduction of Ernest Nuamah and Majeed Ashimeru for Semenyo and Salis Abdul Samed while the Comorians reacted by bringing on Rafiki Said and Aymeric Ahmed for Benjaloud Youssouf and Abdel Hakim Abdallah.
Nuamah responded positively to the team’s demands as his first challenge resulted in what was thought to be a deserved equaliser when the Comoros goalkeeper Ben Boina failed to make a save of a floated ball to the area and dropped into the net.
The Mauritania referee, Bouh Abdel Aziz, however ruled it offside.
Hughton effected his last substitution, bringing on Issahaku Abdul Fatawu and Jonathan Sowah for Jordan Ayew and Baba Iddrisu in the 80th and 86th minutes as they threw everything into the game.
It became an all-action game for the Stars who pushed more men forward in search of an equaliser that eluded them and put them in a very uncomfortable position with eight matches more left.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
