Black Starlets head coach Kassim Ocansey Mingle believes Ghana could have beaten Ivory Coast in the semi-finals of the 2026 WAFU Zone B U-17 Championship.

Ghana suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to the Ivorians, ending their hopes of reaching the final and securing qualification for next year’s Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.

The Black Starlets were reduced to ten men in the 17th minute after Daniel Owusu received a straight red card for a tackle on an Ivorian striker, leaving Mingle’s side with a difficult task for the remainder of the game.

Despite the setback, Ghana continued to compete and created opportunities to get back into the game, but their failure to convert those chances proved costly.

“It was a game we could have won. It was a game we were controlling until the red card on the 17th minute,” Mingle said after the defeat.

“Even after that, we created some good chances but missed them. And considering the time Ivory coast scored, it's really painful,” he added.