WAFU B U-17 Championship: Black Starlets captain Issah Abdul Rafiu apologises to Ghanaians after AFCON failure

Black Starlets captain Issah Abdul Rafiu has apologised to Ghanaians after Ghana failed to qualify for the 2027 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco.

Ghana’s hopes of reaching the tournament were ended by a 1-0 defeat to Ivory Coast in the semi-finals of the 2026 WAFU Zone B U17 Championship on Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of the third-place play-off against hosts Burkina Faso, Issah appealed for forgiveness and pledged that the team would finish the competition with a bronze medal.

“First of all, we want to send our apologies to Ghanaians for failing to qualify for the AFCON,” he said.

“But we want to assure them that we will show up tomorrow and win the bronze medal to show we were down by a man; that’s why we lost to Ivory Coast.”

Ghana’s semi-final campaign was dealt a major blow in the 17th minute when defender Daniel Owusu received a straight red card, forcing the Black Starlets to play with 10 men for the remainder of the match.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, Ghana created several promising scoring opportunities but failed to convert them.

Ivory Coast eventually capitalised, with Alex Fousseni Bamba scoring the decisive goal in the 76th minute to send his side into the final and leave Ghana facing a battle for third place.

The defeat ended a promising campaign for the Black Starlets, who topped Group A with seven points from three matches.

Victories over Togo and Benin, followed by a goalless draw against Burkina Faso, had raised hopes that Ghana could progress to the final and secure qualification for the 2027 AFCON.

However, the team will now hope to salvage some pride in the bronze-medal match.