Black Maidens head coach Joe Nana Adarkwa has praised his players for their tactical discipline after Ghana beat Argentina on penalties to reach the quarter-finals of the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Ghana won 5-4 in the shootout after the Round of 16 encounter ended 1-1 in regulation time. Jessica Appiah gave Ghana the lead in the 16th minute, but the Maidens were reduced to 10 players in the 77th minute after Hajara Adam received a second yellow card.

Argentina capitalised on their numerical advantage, with Mercedes Diz equalising in the 86th minute to force a penalty shootout. Ghana held their nerve from the spot, winning 5-4 after Oriana Gomez missed her attempt for Argentina.

Speaking to FIFA after the match, Adarkwa credited his team’s tactical execution for helping them overcome the numerical disadvantage and secure victory.

“I’m delighted, as usual. You can see in the celebrations I lost my voice, but I’m OK. We’re a technical team but our players did well because if you are not tactical when it’s 10 against 11, you lose the game but thank God the players played according to our instructions and we drew, so we could go through from that” Adarkwa said.