Black Queens head coach Kim Lars Björkegren has described Ghana’s 2-1 defeat by Malawi at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations as the “worst feeling” of his 20-year coaching career.

Ghana surrendered an early lead to lose their quarter-final tie, ending their hopes of reaching the semi-finals and securing automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Björkegren said the defeat was painful because of what qualification for the World Cup would have meant to the team and the country.

"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 and 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. Always when you're in the losing team you need to face the truth and the fact is that we lost with one ball and now it's really painful," he said.

Ghana will have another opportunity to qualify when they face Cote d'Ivoire in a playoff in Casablanca on Thursday.

The playoff gives Björkegren's side a chance to recover from the disappointment and keep alive their hopes of returning to the Women's World Cup for the first time since 2007.