Sports
Björkegren: Malawi defeat the worst feeling of my 20-year coaching career
Black Queens head coach Kim Lars Bjorkegren has described Ghana's 2-1 defeat to Malawi in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations as the worst feeling he has experienced in his 20 years of coaching.
The Swedish tactician was visibly disappointed after Ghana surrendered an early lead and missed the opportunity to secure direct qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe potentially the worst feeling I had in 20 years of coaching. I’m feeling so much for this team, for Ghana. I really wanted to help them to go to the first World Cup in 20 years,” Björkegren said after the game.
Ghana started brightly in Rabat and took the lead in the seventh minute through Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah.
The Black Queens, however, were unable to build on their advantage as Malawi gradually grew into the contest. Temwa Chawinga equalised before half-time, while Rose Smith Kadzere completed Malawi’s comeback with the winning goal in the 79th minute.
Bjorkegren admitted that Ghana had a realistic opportunity to reach the semifinals and secure their return to the World Cup.
“We felt that we had a good chance to do it today, but we didn’t perform well enough, even if it was a little bit of a 50-50 game.”
The coach said the pain of the defeat was made worse by the narrow margin between the two teams.
“Always when you’re in the losing team, you need to face the truth, and the fact is that we lost with one goal and now it’s really painful.”
The defeat ended Ghana’s hopes of reaching the WAFCON semifinals but did not completely end their World Cup ambitions.
The Black Queens will now have another opportunity to pursue qualification through the WAFCON play-in, where they will face Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday.
Bjorkegren’s side must win that encounter to advance to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Play-Off Tournament and keep their hopes of ending Ghana’s long wait for a return to the global stage alive.
Source:Fiilasports/ghanasoccernet
