The Black Maidens were eliminated on Sunday in the quarter-finals of the Women’s U17 World Cup in Morocco, beaten 1-0 by Japan through a Nanami Kurita goal in the 54th minute. Ghana had only done better in 2012, the year of their third-place finish.
On Sunday in Morocco, Ghana’s under-17 national team lost 1-0 to Japan in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women’s U17 World Cup, reports foot-africa.com. A single goal was enough for the Japanese to end the run of the Black Maidens, led by head coach Joe Nana Adarkwa.
The decisive moment came from Nanami Kurita, the Japanese scorer, in the 54th minute. Ghana had only three shots, one of them on target, against sixteen Japanese attempts, five of them on target.
An up-and-down run
The Black Maidens had hardly disgraced themselves up to that point. In the group stage, they first fell to Norway (0-3), before drawing with Brazil (3-3), then beating Canada (2-0) to book their place in the round of 16.
In the round of 16, the Ghanaians saw off Argentina after a tense scenario: a 1-1 draw, a finish to the match a player down, then a penalty shootout won. That qualification took them into the quarter-finals against Japan.
Japan set the tempo
Against the Japanese, the step up proved too steep. According to the statistics compiled by foot-africa.com, Japan clearly dominated the match: three Ghanaian shots against sixteen Japanese attempts, five of them on target.
Joe Nana Adarkwa and his players therefore leave the competition at the quarter-final stage.
2012 remains the benchmark
Ghana’s best run remains that of 2012: the Black Maidens reached the semi-finals before claiming third place thanks to a 1-0 win against Germany. This year, they stop in the quarter-finals.
The rest of the tournament will be played without Ghana: the semi-finals of the Women’s U17 World Cup are scheduled for 4 November in Morocco.