Black Princesses move closer to U-20 World Cup spot

Head coach of the Black Princesses, Yusif Basigi, says the dream to qualify for the 2024 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Colombia is still on course after the team defeated their Senegalese counterparts 2-0 away in the final lap of the qualifying series.

The Princesses secured a first leg advantage over their Senegalese counterparts in the first leg encounter at the Stade Lat-Dior in Darkar.

A brace by Tracey Twum secured an important first leg advantage for the Ghanaians ahead of the return encounter in Kumasi.

For Coach Basigi, the victory was an important step toward securing a place in the World Cup, but insisted that they would maintain their focus and not get complacent in the return leg match. 

“The game has been good but very tough because the Senegalese are not a bad side at all. In fact, I have a lot of respect for them. For me I will not conclude anything yet, even though we are two steps ahead of them, we are not going to be complacent so we will not look back. 

“Our dream to qualify for Colombia is to be focused and work extra hard so that we can get there. We created some decent chances that we could have scored. 

“Now that we are going to Kumasi, I am expecting a better game than today. It is not bad winning an away game with two goals so I will say that it’s been very impressive,” he said. 

Two early goals in the first 10 minutes secured an important win for the Princesses who dominated the exchanges, maintained their composure and never looked back.

Twum broke the deadlock as early as the fifth minute after combining with Maafia Nyame who put Twum through to score.

Two minutes later, the Ampem Darkoa Ladies forward scored her brace after scoring from outside the 18-yard box for a commanding 2-0 lead into half-time.

Senegal came into the second half with an attacking mind-set but found the Ghanaian defence too difficult to break down as Coach Basigi's team held onto their early lead to secure victory.

The Black Princesses started the qualifiers by winning 6-0 on aggregate against Guinea Bissau in October before recording an 8-1 aggregate over Eswatini in November to reach this third and final stage of the qualifying series.

The U-20 Women's World Cup, enlarged from 16 to 24 teams, will be hosted by Colombia from August 31 to September 22, 2024.