Ghana, Ivory Coast get green light for friendly match

by Graeme Jackson

Monday Jun 07, 2021. 15:00

Ghana and the Ivory Coast have been given the green light by world football governing body FIFA to meet in a friendly international on Saturday 12 June.

The Elephants have already been in action in this international window, defeating Burkina Faso 2-1 in Abidjan on Saturday night, while the Black Stars are set to face Morocco on Tuesday in Rabat.

Now the two West African teams will meet on the coming weekend in a friendly at the Cape Coast Stadium.

“FIFA has approved Ghana’s request to play an International friendly against the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire subject to observing all COVID-19 protocols,” read a statement on the Ghana FA’s official website.

The meeting of Ghana and Ivory Coast will be their first since the epic 2015 Africa Cup of Nations final in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, which ended 0-0 after extra time before the Elephants triumphed 9-8 on penalties.

Both teams will use the match as preparation for the start of the group stage of 2022 World Cup qualifiers later in the year.

Ghana will come up against Ethiopia (home) and South Africa in early September in Group G, while Ivory Coast’s Group D opponents for the same period of time will be Mozambique (away) and Cameroon (home).