Two-nil up, four-two down: Ghana collapse at home to Gambia
Ghana were two goals up at home and still lost 4-2. That is the short version of a night that will sit badly with anyone who was at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday.
The Black Stars needed this one. They had just been beaten 2-0 by Côte d’Ivoire and were staring at another empty start in the 2027 AFCON qualifiers. For half an hour, it looked as if they had found an answer. Then the whole thing fell apart.
Queiroz changed three players from the Ivory Coast game. Benjamin Asare got the gloves, Jonas Adjetey came in for the injured Djiku, and Felix Afena-Gyan started instead of Bonsu Baah. Gideon Mensah captained the side.
Ghana had the ball, as they usually do. They did not do much with it until the 27th minute. A corner, a foul on Jerome Opoku in the box, and Ernest Nuamah put the penalty away. Six minutes later Afena-Gyan won a free-kick just outside the area and bent it over the wall. 2-0. You could feel the stadium settle. This was supposed to be the easy part.
It lasted nine minutes.
Mensah gave away a penalty. Muhammed Badamosi scored it. Then Ghana made a mess of a throw-in, and Omar Colley poked in the equaliser. Half-time, 2-2. Two goals up, two goals gone, and the mood in the ground had flipped.
After the break, Ghana still looked the more dangerous side for a while. Fatawu forced a save. They won corners. They never quite looked in control again. Gambia waited. Around the hour mark, they brought on Ebrima Colley. In the 68th minute, Ghana’s defence failed to clear; Mensah was caught on the ball, and Colley made it 3-2.
From there the Black Stars had to chase the game. That left space behind them. In the first minute of added time Sainey Sanyang ran clear down the left and Colley finished the cross. 4-2. That was that.
The numbers make it worse. Ghana had 74 percent of the ball and 12 corners. Gambia put five shots on target and scored four of them. Afena-Gyan was the one Ghana player who looked like he belonged. Nuamah did his job from the spot. After that it was sloppy defending and a team that could not manage a lead.
Mensah had a night he will want to forget. He gave away the first Gambia penalty and was involved in the third goal. Asare, handed a rare start, was beaten four times.
Gambia’s coach, Jonathan McKinstry, said afterwards he was not surprised. He had watched Ghana leave space out wide when they pushed forward and figured the game would open up once it was level. He was right.
Queiroz apologised to the fans and said the criticism should come to him. Fair enough. The players still have to live with what happened in front of their own supporters.
Gambia now have six points, same as Côte d’Ivoire. Ghana have none and have shipped six goals in two games. Next up is Somalia, home and away, in November. Those two matches are no longer just fixtures. They are a rescue job.
There is another ugly line in the record books. Ghana had not conceded three or more in an AFCON qualifier since 1975. They conceded four on Tuesday. Gambia had not beaten them in 33 years. They have now.
Two-nil up at home should have been the start of something. Instead, it became another night where Ghana had the ball, lost their shape, and paid for it. They still have four games left. They no longer have much room to get them wrong.