CAF\u2019s revised operational programme moved the Black Queens\u2019 team base from Fez to Casablanca in the weeks leading up to the tournament, ensuring the squad plays their entire group phase at a single venue.<\/p>\n
Here is the Black Queens\u2019 full group-stage schedule:<\/p>\n
Match 1 – Ghana vs Cape Verde<\/p>\n
Date: Wednesday, July 29, 2026<\/p>\n
Kick-off: 17:00 GMT<\/p>\n
Venue: Moulay Rachid Stadium, Casablanca<\/p>\n
The Black Queens open their campaign against WAFCON debutants Cape Verde. The Blue Sharks stunned the continent by qualifying for the finals for the first time in their history, and Ghana will be firm favourites on paper against the debutants.<\/p>\n
That, however, is precisely the kind of fixture Bj\u00f6rkegren\u2019s side must convert into three points if they are to build momentum. A win here would settle nerves and set the group up perfectly ahead of the tougher tests to come.<\/p>\n
Match 2 – Ghana vs Cameroon<\/p>\n
Date: Sunday, August 2, 2026<\/p>\n
Kick-off: 17:00 GMT<\/p>\n
Venue: Moulay Rachid Stadium, Casablanca<\/p>\n
The pivotal fixture of the group, and one of the biggest games in African women\u2019s football. Cameroon are one of the heavyweights of the continent, reaching the final three times and losing all three to giants Nigeria.<\/p>\n
With this game set to go down to the wire, the feeling is the winner of this game is expected to top Group D.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Match 3 – Ghana vs Mali<\/p>\n
Date: Thursday, August 6, 2026<\/p>\n
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT<\/p>\n
Venue: Moulay Rachid Stadium, Casablanca<\/p>\n
The Black Queens close their group stage against Mali under the lights in Casablanca. Mali have been a rising force in West African women\u2019s football and finished in fourth place in the 2018 WAFCON losing to Ghana.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Depending on how results elsewhere have shaped the group, this final matchday fixture could be a straight shootout for a place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
The likely knockout path<\/p>\n
The winners and runners-up of Group D will advance to the quarter-finals, scheduled for August 9 and 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The winner of Group D will face the runners-up of Group C, whereas the runners-up of Group D will face the winner of Group D.<\/p>\n
With Group D comprising 10-time WAFCON winners Nigeria, who are expected to the top the group with Zambia, Egypt, and Malawi, finishing 2nd in Group D could mean a potential meeting with the Super Falcons.<\/p>\n
As a result, \u00a0Bj\u00f6rkegren’s women will want to avoid Nigeria before the semi-finals at least.<\/p>\n
The four semi-finalists, set to be decided on August 14, will book their tickets to Brazil 2027, the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n
The final of WAFCON 2026 is scheduled for Sunday, August 16, at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat.<\/p>\n
For Ghana, the ambition is layered. On the immediate horizon, the Black Queens want to build on their impressive third-placed finish at the 2024 WAFCON, where they beat South Africa in the third-place playoff.<\/p>\n
That performance restored the Black Queens\u2019 standing among the continent\u2019s elite after a period of decline, and Bj\u00f6rkegren has been steadily building a squad that mixes senior campaigners with rising talents from the Ghana Women\u2019s Premier League and European clubs.<\/p>\n
The bigger prize, though, is a return to the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup for the first time since 2007.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Owuraku](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/345f5fd0-6a26-4f45-8078-6462582c5da7.jpg\" "\\"Owuraku")
Owuraku AmpofoFlashscore<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ghana\u2019s Black Queens will begin their 2026 TotalEnergies Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) campaign in Morocco on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-306853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}