The quest to end Ghana’s 41-year AFCON drought would be even tougher should the Black Stars seal qualification to Côte d’Ivoire 2024, according to Ghana head coach Chris Hughton.

The Black Stars will qualify for the tournament if they avoid defeat in their final qualifier at home against Central African Republic in September.

Hughton reckons the improvement in quality of the teams on the continent would require the black stars to be at their very best if they’re to bring home the trophy.

"Once you get there, what you want to do is perform and perform well," he said in an interview with talkSPORT.

"One thing I have seen during the travels on the games we’ve played is that the level of the African countries now in football has improved absolutely no doubt. I think it’s because of the infrastructure; [there is] so much more now.

"The African players play at a good level with good clubs, Europeans with good structure. There are some balances now. What we regarded as the lesser footballing countries have now improved. So, the competition is greater."

The Black Stars will hope they get the needed result against CAR to be able to play at the continental showpiece once again.