Ghana’s Black Satellites suffered a 1-0 defeat to Mali on Saturday in their final Group B match of the ongoing Total U20 AFCON being played in Niger.
Ghana needed to avoid defeat secure them qualification to the semi-finals of the tournament and a place in the 2019 U-20 World Cup in Poland.
The first half went by without any major activity even though the Malians looked more lively than their Ghanaian opponents.
However, the Malians found the breakthrough in the 53rd minute when Hadji Drame nodded home a cross from just inside Ghana’s penalty area.
Coach Jimmy Cobblah made changes with Saliw Babawo coming on for Enock Agyei and Ibrahim Sulley replacing Sabit Abdulai but none of the changes had impact on the game as they failed to find the back of the net.
The result means that Ghana finishes 3rd in Group B on 3 points with Senegal on 9 and Mali on 6.
Africa will thus be represented by Senegal, Mali, Nigeria and South Africa in the 2019 U-20 World Cup in Poland.
