Ivory Coast vs Ghana: Match Preview, Team News, Kick-Off Time and Where to Watch

• Ghana's Black Queens face Ivory Coast in a must-win FIFA World Cup play-off clash on August 13 at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium
• Both sides crashed out of the 2026 WAFCON quarter-finals, with the loser of this play-off eliminated from World Cup contention
• Coach Kim Lars Björkegren admitted the quarter-final defeat to Malawi was potentially the worst feeling in his 20-year career

Ghana's Black Queens face Ivory Coast in a crucial 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup play-off on Thursday, August 13, knowing victory is the only result that will keep their dream of reaching Brazil alive.

The two West African rivals meet at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, with the winner advancing to the intercontinental World Cup play-off round.

Both teams arrive after suffering painful quarter-final exits at the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations.

Ghana surrendered a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 to Malawi, while Ivory Coast suffered an identical defeat to Algeria after also taking the lead.

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Ivory Coast vs Ghana: Team news and H2H

Ghana coach Kim Lars Björkegren admitted the Malawi defeat was one of the toughest moments of his coaching career. He said, as quoted by Ghanafa.org:

"Maybe potentially the worst feeling I had in 20 years of coaching. I'm feeling so much for this team, for Ghana. I really wanted to help them to go to the first World Cup in 20 years and we felt that we had a good chance to do it today, but we didn't perform well enough, even if it was a little bit of a 50-50 game. Always, when you're in the losing team, you need to face the truth, and the fact is that we lost with one ball, and now it's really painful."

Defender Josephine Bonsu, however, believes Ghana must respond quickly. She said, as cited by Sporty FM:

"Ivory Coast has been a respectable opponent. We need to score more goals tomorrow."

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In terms of team news, Ghana has no major injury concerns, although Björkegren could make changes, with Abigail Kim, Stella Nyamekye, and Linda Owusu Ansah pushing for starts.

Ivory Coast will be without star player Nsira Ouedraogo, who is suspended after receiving a red card against Algeria.

The teams have met seven times, with Ghana winning three. Their latest meeting ended in a 1-0 Black Queens victory, Sharon Sampson scoring the decisive goal.

Ivory Coast vs Ghana: Kick-off time and where to watch

Thursday's match kicks off at 16:00 hours GMT.

Fans in Ghana can watch the FIFA Women's World Cup playoff live on GTV Sports+, Globe TV, and Max TV.

For Ghana, the stakes could hardly be higher. Victory would move the Black Queens into the intercontinental play-offs and leave them just one step closer to reaching their first Women's World Cup in 20 years.

Source: YEN.com.gh