Ghana to resume 2021 Afcon qualifiers with Sudan clash in November as CAF announces new dates for qualifiers

CK Akonnor will oversee his first competitive game as Ghana Black Stars coach in November 2020 after the Confederation of Africa Football(CAF) announced the resumption of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers amid the Coronavirus disease.

The continent’s football governing body, on June 30, 2020, suspended the 2021 Afcon qualifiers due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which halted all sporting events across the globe.

CAF has announced that the remaining qualifying round for the Cameroon 2021 will be honoured with a doubleheader in November 2020 and March 2021.
 

The official statement from CAF indicated that “The CAF Emergency Committee has approved the resumption date for qualifiers of the Total Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2021 and the group stage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

“A busy schedule awaits the participating teams with double-headers from November 2020 through to November 2021 in the battle for spots to the final tournament of the two competitions.

“The schedules for the two competitions have had to be revised in light of the COVID-19 outbreak which halted many sporting activities across the continent and beyond for some time.

“For Cameroon 2021, the qualifiers resume on 9-17 November 2020 with the Day 3 & 4 matches whilst the penultimate and ultimate matches take place on 22-30 March 2021.”

Ghana commenced its qualifications campaign to the 2021 Afcon on a good note with back-to-back victories against South Africa at home and Sao Tome and Principe away in November last year.

Based on the latest date change, Ghana will resume the qualification with a home fixture against Sudan on Friday, November 13 which could be played in Cape Coast before they trek to Omdurman three days later for the return leg.

The final qualifiers – against South Africa at away and Sao Tome and Principe at home – will be played between March 22 and 30.

Ghana currently leads Group C with 6 points after two games.

The top two countries from the group will book a ticket to the Afcon to be staged in Cameroon which has been rescheduled from January 2021 to January 2022 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.