AFCON 2027Q: Queiroz furious with ‘joke’ penalty awarded Cote d’Ivoire in Black Stars defeat

Black Stars head coach Carlos Queiroz has expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance in their game against Cote d’Ivoire despite missing out on all three points. Ghana’s hopes of making a winning start to their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign suffered a setback as the Black Stars lost 2-0 to the Elephants in Bouaké on Thursday evening. Malick Yalcouye opened the scoring with a powerful strike from outside the box before Frank Kessie doubled the Côte d’Ivoire’s lead from the penalty spot in the second half.

Despite the loss, Queiroz still found the positive in his side’s game. “I have to say that I am very proud of my team, very proud of my players – the way they fought, the way they played, the way they fought against adversity. I need to be quiet and polite,” he said after the game.

“It was 1-0 down, and I don’t think Côte d’Ivoire needed the referee to come inside the game and create an unbalanced situation.” According to the Portuguese trainer, his players were better in some departments of the game but couldn’t make their advantage count. “As I said [on Wednesday], I expected a very competitive game, and it was a very competitive game. The game was very competitive, with so much quality from both sides,” he added.

We had four clear opportunities to score in front of goal, but it didn’t happen. Congratulations to them.” With defeat in the opening game, the Black Stars will now regroup and turn their attention to the game against Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday, September 29. Head coach of the Black Stars, Carlos Queiroz, has questioned the penalty awarded to Côte d’Ivoire in their win over Ghana on Thursday evening.

The Black Stars fell to a 2-0 defeat against the Elephants in their opening game of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying series. Queiroz felt his team was hard done by the call of the referee in the second half, which resulted in the Ivorians wrapping up all three points in Bouake. The referee pointed to the spot after Malick Yalcouye went to ground following an attempt to win the ball by Abdul Fatawu Issahaku in the box.

For those of you who can see it on television, it is a joke. When we are 1-0 down and we fight for our chances, for our opportunities, somebody should not come in and make that decision,” Queiroz said at his post-match press conference. “In the end, there is nothing to do about it.