By: Maxwell Woyram Tsigbe
With a scintillating performance, the Black Stars of Ghana edged out their counterparts from Madagascar in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture at the Le Grand Stade d’Al Hoceima in Morocco on Monday, March 24, 2025.
The away fixture saw Ghana displayed a cohesive team work which enabled the team to maul Madagascar 3-0 as the opposing side struggle to change the narrative.
This impressive win followed a previous flawless and commanding 5-0 victory against Chad in a similar fixture back at home at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday, March 21, 2025, where enthusiastic football fans throng the sports facility to rally their support behind the home team.
With the introduction of Abu Francis and Jerome Opoku into the 5-0 victory squad and a formation of 3-5-2, Otto Addo’s side took an early lead in the 11th minute after Thomas Partey leaped highest to head home Jordan Ayew’s brilliant free-kick.
The Arsenal midfielder subsequently secured a brace for himself in a similar fashion, heading in another precise corner strike from Jordan Ayew to double the lead for Ghana while the Barea of Madagascar failed to find antidotes to the Black Stars’ dominance in order to mount a comeback.
To underscore his influence on the game without a goal, Jordan Ayew yet again orchestrated another pivotal upset with Mohammed Kudus delivering a clinical finish to seal the 3-0 win for Ghana.
The win placed Ghana atop of the Group I table of the qualifying fixtures with a 15 point comfortable lead and a superior goal difference with four outstanding matches to play. The Black Stars will take on Chad in a return leg later in September this year after the break.
But what does the victories mean?
Are the Black Stars on their way to revive and reclaim their past glory after the team’s lacklustre 2025 AFCON qualification campaign performance?
Are they making amends for their abysmal performances in the past and assuring Ghanaians of a brighter football future?
Or the country is to remain on the edge of its seat in uncertainty whenever they spread across a football pitch to battle an opponent in a fixture?
Although all things look promising, it remains to be seen if the country’s male Senior National Team will leverage the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign and the tournament proper (i.e. if they qualify) as an act of atonement for their ‘sport sacrileges’ they committed against their fans and Ghana.