The Black Princesses of Ghana risk a 7th consecutive group stage exit in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup following their defeat in their second group game of the 2024 edition of the tournament currently ongoing in Colombia.
Ghana suffered a 1-4 defeat to 2018 champions in Bogota on Thursday night, leaving them bottom of the group with zero points and just one game left to play.
Yussif Basigi’s side came into the encounter following defeat to Austria in the first group game and were second favourites in all departments of the game to the Japanese, who had thumped New Zealand 7-0 in their first game on Tuesday night.
Chinari Sasaki opened the scoring in the second minute of added time in the first half after Afi Amenyeku’s howler to give Japan the lead. Manaka Matsukubo doubled the lead just before the break as her left-footed effort went through the legs of the Ghanaian goalkeeper.
Japan went into recess with a 2-0 lead. It took five minutes after the break for Japan to get onto the scoresheet again; this time, Miku Hayama beat the offside trap before striking the ball past the on-rushing Ghanaian defense. Stella Nyamekye pulled a goal back for Ghana in the 83rd minute, converting from the penalty spot to reduce the deficit.
However, Japan were far from done as Miyu Matsunaga restored their three-goal advantage to make it 4-1. The defeat on Thursday night means Ghana will now have to win their final group game against New Zealand and hope they make the cut as one of the best third-placed teams in the group stages to advance to the next round. The game against New Zealand is scheduled for Sunday, September 8.