Ghana and Qatar will meet for the first time at senior level in Turkey on Monday afternoon.

When both sides face-off, they will make history as the first non-European male senior national football teams to use The Mardan Sports Complex for a friendly game.

Due to Covid-19, both countries haven’t had enough time to prepare for upcoming qualifiers and major tournaments. Therefore, this game presents a good assessment opportunity for the two teams.

Match preview

Although the match will take place at a neutral venue, Ghana are officially the home team and will be looking to make amends for the tough 3-0 defeat against Mali on Friday.

With fans growing impatient, the Black Stars will need a good performance to certainly appease the fans.

In their way is a Qatar side who yet to play a game in 2020, with their most recent competitive game coming in December 2019 when they lost 1-0 to Saudi Arabia in the Gulf Cup semi-finals.

Qatar enjoyed a fruitful 2019 where they played 20 matches winning 13, drawing two and losing just five. It was a year to remember as the Qataris won the Asian Cup and also played in the Copa America.

With the 2022 World Cup inching ever closer, Qatar will look to continue their steady progress with a win over Ghana.

Ghana form: L-W-W-D-L

Qatar form: L-W-W-L-W

Team News

As expected, CK Akonnor has announced his team hours before kick-off, making five changes to the side that was battered by Mali three days ago.

Nicholas Opoku is yet to recover from his injury as he has been replaced by Joseph Aidoo. The four other changes see Razak Abalora, Benson Annan, Iddrisu Baba and Samuel Owusu come in.

For Qatar, Salem Al Hajri, Assim Madibo and Bassam Al Rawi were not included in the team for the friendly as they are yet to recover from their injuries. However key players Akram Afif, Almoez Ali and Abdelkarim Hassan are all available.

The Asian champions are expected to field a similar team to the one that last represented them in the Gulf Cup semi-final.

Ghana Predicted XI (4-3-3): Razak Abalora; Benson Annan; Alexander Djiku; Joseph Aidoo; Gideon Mensah; Idrissu Baba; Thomas Partey; Samuel Owusu; Andre Ayew; Tarique Fosu;  Jordan Ayew.

Qatar Predicted XI (5-4-1): Saad Al Sheeb; Ró-Ró; Musaab Kheder; Boualem Khoukhi; Tarek Salman; Abdelkarim Hassan; Hassan Al-Haydos; Karim Boudiaf; Abdulaziz Hatem; Akram Afif; Almoez Ali.

Ghana vs Qatar Prediction

Ghana will be desperate to prove a point when they face strong and spirited Qatar side. Despite possessing attacking qualities, the lack of football over the past 10 months might prove too fatal against a Ghana team who already have one game under their belt.

Prediction: Ghana 2-1 Qatar