Former Ghana international Ibrahim Tanko has described Ghana's failure to qualify for next year's African Cup of Nations (AFCON 2025) as a big blow.

Ghana failed to qualify for the tournament after finishing bottom of Group F with three points.

The four-time African champions also completed the group phase of the qualifying series without a win; a first in the country's history.

Speaking to Flashscore, Tanko said "tt is very bitter for us (players) and also a big blow for Ghana football because this is the first time in over 20 years that we are not qualifying for the competition," 

"It is not good for us former players as well as the Ghana Football Association. We are definitely going to feel it" he added.

Tanko said he was puzzled by the poor performances, despite Ghana's very obvious individual quality.

"In terms of players, we have them. For these games (vs Angola & Niger), some players did not come yet we still had a very good squad to compete’’.

The former Black Stars assistant coach is therefore calling for an introspection.

"Qualification for tournaments has always been easy for Ghana except for this one. The GFA needs to sit down and analyze what is happening, there is no tournament that we have not gone past the group stage, but in recent times, we have not come out from the group stage."