Ghana defeated the Eagles of Mali by a lone goal on Monday night at the Accra Sports Stadium. The victory helped Otto Addo's men open a three-point ga
Ghana defeated the Eagles of Mali by a lone goal on Monday night at the Accra Sports Stadium. The victory helped Otto Addo’s men open a three-point gap between themselves and the second-placed side, Madagascar, with just two games left in the qualifiers.
A controversial goal scored by centre-back Alexander Djiku separated the two teams, with Mali’s head coach revealing after the game that his side was the better of the two.
“After Ghana’s goal, Mali was the only team on the pitch, Tom Saintfiet said. The Black Stars could not maintain the intensity and determination soon after scoring the goal. Mali dominated and pushed Ghana all the way, but could not equalise.
“Ghana didn’t play with 11 or 12 players, they played with 13”, the head coach added. Mali felt that the referee was a bit biased towards them. They complained bitterly after Djiku’s goal, and Sainfiet believes Ghana had help from the South African referee Luxulo Badi.
“It showed that they were afraid of us”, he continued. “My team told me there was a fault with Ghana’s goal”, he concluded.
The slim victory has helped Ghana to retain the number slot.
Ghana will need four points from the two games left. The Black Stars will travel to the Central African Republic on 8th October and host Comoros four days later in rounds nine and 10 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
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