The Black Stars of Ghana delivered a big result in its quest to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup by beating Mali 2-1 in Bamako.
The Black Stars secured their second win in three games thus far in the qualifiers with veteran forward Jordan Ayew climbing off the bench to score the winner in the 94th minute.
The Crystal Palace player was surprisingly dropped from the starting lineup for the game but made his presence count after coming on for Antoine Semenyo in the 79th minute.
Ghana conceded close to the end of the first half through a fortuitous goal from Kamory Doumbia after a block attempt on a shot from Doumbia bounced off Alexander Djiku and came off the Stade Brest midfielder into the net.
However, Otto Addo’s team improved in the early phases of the second half and got the equalizer through a powerful Ernest Nuamah header in the 56th minute.
Ghana had a couple of chances to get the lead until substitute Abdul Fatawu Issahaku forced Mali into a mistake and robbed them off possession before setting up Jordan Ayew to score Ghana’s second goal on a second shot attempt.
