2026 WAFCON: Black Queens played the ‘best game’ despite nervy Mali draw, says Kim Lars Björkegren

Black Queens head coach Kim Lars Björkegren believes Ghana produced their best performance of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) campaign in their final Group D match against Mali.

Ghana secured a place in the quarter-finals after holding Mali to a 1-1 draw at the Moulay Rashid Stadium in Casablanca on Thursday night.

The Black Queens entered the match knowing that a point would be enough to guarantee their progression to the knockout stage.

Evelyn Badu put Ghana ahead before half-time, but Mali responded through Diabite to level the score and set up a tense finish.

Despite the late pressure, Björkegren was pleased with his team's overall display and said the result completed one of the targets set for the tournament.

"Yeah, I mean, to go to the playoffs was one of the three targets that we had this summer with the Black Queens. The game is the best that we have played - the only thing I can be disappointed over is the fact that we were nervous in the end. We should have closed this game way earlier," Björkegren said.

The Swedish coach pointed to Ghana's statistical dominance as evidence of their superiority, noting that the Black Queens created significantly better scoring opportunities than their opponents.

"We're having like an xG - there is a 3.3 almost against 0.6. I mean, it's a normal game that you win with 3-0 or something like that. But in the end, you need to be nervous. So that's the only thing I can complain about; otherwise I think we played really good football," he explained.

Björkegren was particularly impressed with Ghana's start to the game, describing the first half as their best football of the tournament so far.

"I think we were ready from the start today. The first half, like I said, this is probably the best one we have played. But at the end of the day, we needed one point, and we took it, and now we are in a good position."

The draw also keeps Ghana's hopes of qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup alive, with the quarter-final representing a crucial step towards securing a place at the global tournament.

"Because this quarterfinal is only one game from the World Cup," Björkegren stressed.

Ghana finished second in their group to advance to the last eight and will face Malawi in the quarter-finals.

Victory over Malawi would take the Black Queens into the semi-finals and move them closer to securing a return to the FIFA Women's World Cup.