Ghana, Mali qualify for U-20 World Cup

Ghana and Mali joined Nigeria into the last four and also qualified for the 2015 FIFA under-20 World Cup slated for New Zealand after victories in their Group B matches last Thursday at the Caroline Faye Stadium in M’Bour, Senegal.

It was Ghana’s 2-1 win over Zambia in the second match of the day that qualified them as well as the Malians, who had earlier beaten the Amajita of South Africa by a similar scoreline.

Both Ghana and Mali have six points after victories in two games, making the meeting between the two sides tomorrow in M’Bour serve academic purposes.

The other World Cup slot will be decided in Group A with host Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Congo in contention.

The Junior Chipolopolo of Zambia played their best game at the tournament so far but Ghana came from behind to snatch the winner in the dying embers of the game.

The Zambians went up as early as the second minute through Dave Daka, who struck a low shot that zoomed into the corner of the net leaving Ghana goalie Seidu Mutawakilu with no option.

The Black Satellites came from behind to get the equaliser on 26 minutes through Abraham Attobrah with a cheeky shot from the edge of the penalty area.

The turning point for the Ghanaians was the introduction of Samuel Afful for Joseph Adjei in the closing stages. Afful would later score the winner from a rare chance five minutes from time to seal victory.