Preview: Somalia vs Ghana - prediction, team news, lineups

After claiming their first victory of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign in the opening leg at Essipong Sports Stadium, Ghana will be the nominal visitors when they face Somalia at the same venue in Monday afternoon's return fixture of their Group C double-header.

The Black Stars secured a 2-0 win when the sides met on Thursday, leaving them third in the section, six points behind leaders Ivory Coast, three adrift of second-placed Gambia and three ahead of Monday's designated hosts, who remain bottom without a point.

Match preview

Ghana will be looking to record back-to-back victories for the first time in their qualifying campaign after a difficult start saw them lose to Ivory Coast and Gambia in September.

The Black Stars suffered a 2-0 defeat in Abidjan before surrendering a two-goal lead in a 4-2 home loss to Gambia, results that contributed to Carlos Queiroz's departure and left interim coach Kim Lars Bjorkegren with plenty of work to do.

Thursday's victory over Somalia offered some encouragement, with Jonas Adjetey opening the scoring shortly before halftime after Jordan Ayew had missed a penalty, before Felix Afena-Gyan added a second after the break.

The result also marked Bjorkegren's first competitive win in charge and Ghana's first AFCON qualifying victory in about three years, having missed out on the previous continental finals after a disappointing campaign.

Having also ended a five-match winless run last time out, the Black Stars will now be looking to secure consecutive victories for the first time since September and October 2025, with their only other win in their last 13 outings across all competitions coming against Panama in the World Cup group stage.

Somalia, meanwhile, have managed just one goal across their last six outings in all competitions, while losing each of their AFCON qualifying matches since progressing beyond the preliminary round with a penalty shootout victory over Mauritius.

Yusuf Ali Nur's team have conceded exactly twice in each of those qualifiers, losing 2-1 to Gambia in the opening round and 2-0 to Ivory Coast on matchday two before Thursday's defeat to Ghana.

Another loss on Monday would leave the Ocean Stars' hopes of reaching the continental finals for the first time hanging by a thread, with the side currently ranked a lowly 200th in the FIFA World Rankings facing a daunting task against opponents sitting 130 places higher.

There is little encouragement to draw from previous meetings, as Somalia have lost all three of their encounters with Ghana, conceding multiple goals each time while failing to find the net.

Somalia Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying form:

Somalia form (all competitions):

Ghana Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying form:

Ghana form (all competitions):

Team News

Somalia have reported no new injury concerns or suspensions following the first meeting, and goalkeeper Ibrahim Ahmed Hussein could retain his place after saving Ayew's penalty.

Bilal Njie, Abel Gigli and Sakariya Hassan are among those who could feature again as Ali Nur looks for a stronger attacking performance.

Ghana will be without Antoine Semenyo and Jan Gyamerah, who are both unavailable through injury, while no suspensions have been confirmed.

Thomas Partey, Mohammed Kudus, Mohammed Salisu and captain Jordan Ayew all returned to the squad for the double-header, with the latter three expected to feature again after Thursday's victory.

Somalia possible starting lineup:

Hussein; Mohamed, Gigli, Omar, Othman; Nour, Sharif, Abdullahi; Hassan, Moussa Njie, Bilal Njie

Ghana possible starting lineup:

Asare; Seidu, Adjetey, Salisu, Mensah; Partey, Yirenkyi; Fatawu, Kudus, Afena-Gyan; Ayew.

We say: Somalia 0-2 Ghana

Somalia will be determined to improve on their performance from Thursday, but their lack of attacking threat in the first meeting makes it difficult to see them troubling Ghana over 90 minutes.

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