MATCH STATS: Ghana face Cabo Verde in TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON Morocco 2026 Group D

Ghana and tournament debutants Cabo Verde open their TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026 Group D campaigns at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Casablanca on Wednesday, 29 July, with kick-off at 18h00 local time (17h00 GMT).

Match Facts

• Ghana and debutants Cabo Verde will meet for the first time at the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
• Cabo Verde are the first island nation Ghana will face at the finals.
• Ghana’s last game against a tournament debutant was their 3-1 group-stage victory over Kenya in 2016.
• Ghana are facing a tournament debutant for the ninth time, including matches at the 1998 tournament, when all the participating teams made their debuts.
• In 1998, when all the teams made their debuts, Ghana won group games against South Africa and Cameroon 4-0 and 3-1 respectively before defeating DR Congo 4-1 in the semifinals. They lost 2-0 to Nigeria in the final.
• Since 2000, they have faced four tournament debutants and won all four matches.
• Ghana’s previous eight games against tournament debutants produced 31 goals at an average of 3.88 per match. They scored 25 at an average of 3.13 per game and conceded six at an average of 0.75.
• Five of Ghana’s eight previous meetings with tournament debutants were group-stage victories: 4-0 against South Africa and 3-1 against Cameroon in 1998, 2-0 against Mali in 2002, 3-2 against Tunisia in 2008 and 3-1 against Kenya in 2016.
• Their other three matches against debutants were a 4-1 semifinal victory over DR Congo and a 2-0 defeat to Nigeria in the 1998 final, as well as a 6-3 victory over Zimbabwe in the third-place play-off in 2000.
• Ghana’s highest-scoring game against a tournament debutant produced nine goals in their 6-3 victory over Zimbabwe in the third-place play-off in 2000.
• No teams made their debut at the last edition. The most recent debutants were Botswana, Burundi, Burkina Faso and Togo in 2022. Of the quartet, only Botswana won their opening game, defeating fellow debutants Burundi 4-2.

Ghana – Key Statistics

• Past WAFCON appearances: 11 (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2024)
• Best result: Runners-up (1998, 2002, 2006)
• Ghana will be making their 12th appearance at WAFCON. Only Nigeria and South Africa, who are featuring for a 14th time, and Cameroon, making their 13th appearance, have featured more often.
• Three-time runners-up Ghana have lost more finals than every other team apart from South Africa, who have lost four. Cameroon have also lost three finals.
• Ghana have finished third on four occasions, more than any other team.
• They have finished in the top three at seven finals, the joint-second-highest total alongside South Africa. Only Nigeria have more top-three finishes, with 11.
• Ghana have missed the finals only twice, in 2012 and 2022.
• They qualified for the first seven editions between 1998 and 2010 before failing to qualify in 2012. They returned in 2014.
• Ghana were eliminated in the group stage as hosts in 2018 before finishing third at the last edition, defeating defending champions South Africa in the third-place play-off.
• They have been eliminated in the group stage in four of their last six appearances, in 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2018. The exceptions were their third-place finishes in 2016 and 2024.
• In their first five tournament appearances between 1998 and 2006, Ghana progressed beyond the group stage at every edition. They were runners-up in 1998, 2002 and 2006, losing all three finals to Nigeria, and finished third in 2000 and 2004.
• Ghana’s record in their opening game at the finals reads: P11 W7 D2 L2.
• Ghana have never been involved in a 0-0 draw in their opening game. Their only draws when starting a finals campaign were against Nigeria in 2000 and 2008, with the games ending 2-2 and 1-1 respectively.
• Ghana did not lose their opening game in their first seven appearances at the finals, recording five wins and two draws. They then lost their opening game 1-0 to Algeria in 2014.
• Their other opening-game defeat was a 2-0 loss to South Africa at the last edition.
• Ghana won their opening game 3-1 against Kenya in 2016 and 1-0 against Algeria in 2018 before losing at the last edition.
• At each of their previous 11 finals appearances, Ghana have managed to win at least one game. They have never exited the tournament without recording a victory.
• Ghana reached the finals with 3-0 and 4-0 qualifying victories over Egypt, completing a 7-0 aggregate win. Doris Boaduwaa scored a hat-trick in the second leg after also finding the net in the first fixture away from home.
• Just three members of Ghana’s squad play their club football domestically, with the players based across 19 different countries.
• Ghana’s players compete on four continents: Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.
• They will again be led by Swedish-born coach Kim Björkegren, who guided them to the bronze medal at the last edition.
• Ghana have won just one of their last six games, recording three draws and two defeats. Their sole victory was a 4-1 win against Tanzania in their final group game at the last edition.
• They failed to win any of their three knockout matches at the last edition in open play. They overcame Algeria in the quarterfinals and South Africa in the third-place play-off on penalties following 0-0 and 1-1 draws respectively. In between, they lost to Morocco on penalties in the semifinals after the match ended 1-1.

Cabo Verde – Key Statistics

• Past WAFCON appearances: None
• Best result: Debut in 2026
• Cabo Verde are making their tournament debut.
• They become the second island nation after Réunion in 2000 to feature at WAFCON.
• They are the first island nation to have both their men’s and women’s national teams feature at AFCON and WAFCON respectively.
• Cabo Verde will be looking to finish in the top four and qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, emulating their men’s team, who made their first appearance on the global stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
• In the first round of qualifying, they defeated Guinea 6-3 on aggregate. They drew the away first leg 2-2 in a game they had led 2-0 before winning the home leg 4-1. Varsenia da Luz scored in both matches.
• Cabo Verde defeated Mali in the second qualifying round. They lost the first leg at home 1-0 but recovered to win the return match 4-2 away from home, securing a 4-3 aggregate victory.
• Seventeen of their players play their club football in Portugal.
• They have two players based in their domestic league, including captain Da Luz and Jacinta Rodrigues, while other members of the squad play in Slovakia, Malta, Poland and England.