Ghana's Black Stars ended a painful eight-match winless run in AFCON qualification by beating Somalia 2-0 on Thursday at the Essipong Sports Stadium in Sekondi-Takoradi, breathing life back into their AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign.

Interim manager Kim Lars Björkegren claimed his first victory since taking charge following the dismissal of Carlos Queiroz, who oversaw a dismal opening to Group C. Ghana had collected zero points from their opening two fixtures — a 2-0 defeat to Ivory Coast in Bouaké and a stunning 4-2 home collapse against The Gambia, a match in which they had led 2-0.

Penalty miss before the breakthrough

Captain Jordan Ayew returned to the starting lineup after sitting out the previous two matches, as did Mohammed Kudus, who made his first appearance of 2026. However, the captain's comeback began on a low note — Ayew blazed a 14th-minute penalty wide after Alidu Seidu was brought down, with Somali goalkeeper Ibrahim Ahmed Hussein pushing the spot-kick away.

Ghana's patience was eventually rewarded in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, when defender Jonas Adjetey guided a header into the net to calm a restless home crowd and send the sides into the break with the hosts in front.

Afena-Gyan puts the game to bed

Any remaining doubt was extinguished in the 62nd minute when Felix Afena-Gyan, in fine recent form, struck his first goal of the qualifying campaign to double Ghana's advantage and seal the three points.

The result lifts Ghana off the foot of Group C to three points from three games, while Somalia remain pointless after three defeats. The two nations will meet again on Monday, 16 November, also at Essipong Stadium — Somalia have been forced to cede home advantage throughout the campaign due to the absence of a CAF-approved venue.

Only the top two sides in Group C will advance to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which will be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.