Black Stars of Ghana and the Palancas Negras of Angola lock horns in another berth of football bragging right on Thursday in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier at the Baba Yara stadium.
The match which serves as the first leg of the expected two-legged tie between the two counties comes off in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital. It would become the seventh time the sides have met at the senior level.
Ahead of today’s clash, both teams have met thrice in international friendlies and thrice in AFCON competitions.
Ghana thus has the advantage over the Angolans with three wins. Angola on the other hand has one win in those meetings while two ended as drawn games.
The 2010 AFCON tournament hosted by Angola however saw the last meeting between the two sides.
In the said match, Asamoah Gyan’s only goal ensured the Black Stars recorded a 1-0 slim win margin over the Palancas Negras in the quarter-finals stage of the tournament.
HEAD TO HEAD
International Friendly: [November 11, 1982] Angola 1-2 Ghana
Africa Cup of Nations: [October 6, 1996] Ghana 2-1 Angola
Africa Cup of Nations: [Jun 22, 1997] Angola 1-0 Ghana
International Friendly: [April 28, 2004] Ghana 1-1 Angola
International Friendly: [November 18, 2009] Angola 0-0 Ghana
Africa Cup of Nations: [January 24, 2010] Angola 0-1 Ghana
With Ghana and Angola tied on four points each in Group E going into today’s fixture, a win for the home side will move them to the summit including Madagascar, and the Central African Republic (CAR).
FORM GUIDE
GHANA’S LAST FIVE MATCHES
2022 FIFA World Cup: Ghana 0–2 Uruguay
2022 FIFA World Cup: South Korea 2-3 Ghana
2022 FIFA World Cup: Portugal 3-2 Ghana
International Friendly, November 2022: Ghana 2–0 Switzerland
International Friendly, September 2022: Nicaragua 0–1 Ghana
ANGOLA’S LAST FIVE MATCHES
International Friendly, November 2022: South Africa 1–1 Angola
International Friendly, November 2022: Angola 1–0 Botswana
COSAFA Cup, July 2022: Botswana 1–0 Angola
COSAFA Cup, July 2022: Angola 3–0 Seychelles
COSAFA Cup, July 2022: Angola 3–1 Comoros
Chris Hughton and his charges will hope to record a win and also display an improved performance as a case study following the team’s poor show at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar where it failed to qualify past the group stage.
