- Björkegren Calls Malawi Defeat Worst Moment of 20-Year Coaching Career
Black Queens head coach Kim Lars Björkegren has described Ghana’s 2-1 defeat to Malawi in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations as potentially the most painful moment of his 20-year coaching career, after the loss denied Ghana automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Ghana had entered the quarterfinal knowing victory would secure a place in the WAFCON semifinals and with it a direct ticket to the World Cup. Instead, the Black Queens surrendered an early lead in Rabat and were forced into the tournament’s secondary qualification route.
“Maybe potentially the worst feeling I had in 20 years of coaching. I’m feeling so much for this team, for Ghana. I really wanted to help them to go to the first World Cup in 20 years,” Björkegren said after the match.
The disappointment was particularly acute because Ghana had started brightly. Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah gave the Black Queens the lead in the seventh minute, putting Björkegren’s side in a strong position before Malawi gradually worked their way back into the contest.
Temwa Chawinga equalised before half-time before Rose Smith Kadzere struck the decisive goal in the 79th minute to complete Malawi’s comeback. Ghana were unable to find the response required in the closing stages, ending their pursuit of a semifinal place.
For Björkegren, the result was difficult to accept precisely because he believed the contest was within Ghana’s reach. The Swedish coach acknowledged that his team had a realistic opportunity to end the country’s long absence from the Women’s World Cup but ultimately failed to produce the performance required when the stakes were highest.
“We felt that we had a good chance to do it today, but we didn’t perform well enough, even if it was a little bit of a 50-50 game,” he said.
That admission captures the frustration surrounding the defeat. Ghana were not overwhelmed by Malawi, but tournament football frequently turns on narrow margins, and the Black Queens were unable to convert their promising start into sustained control of the game.
“Always when you’re in the losing team, you need to face the truth, and the fact is that we lost with one goal and now it’s really painful,” Björkegren added.
The result is made more striking by what happened only weeks earlier. Ghana beat Malawi 4-0 in a pre-WAFCON friendly in Casablanca, with Doris Boaduwaa scoring a hat-trick and Sharon Sampson adding the fourth as the Black Queens finished their preparations on a high.
That contrast provides a reminder of how little friendly results can sometimes mean once tournament pressure arrives. Ghana had dominated the warm-up encounter, but Malawi proved considerably more resilient when the two sides met with a World Cup place effectively at stake.
Before the tournament, Björkegren had made qualification for the World Cup one of Ghana’s principal objectives. He said his ambition when taking charge was to return the Black Queens to Africa’s top four and end a World Cup absence dating back to 2007.
He had also been clear about Ghana’s competitive targets immediately before the tournament began: progress from the group stage, win the quarterfinal to qualify for the World Cup and then challenge for the WAFCON title. The loss to Malawi therefore struck directly at the central objective around which the campaign had been built.
Yet Ghana’s World Cup hopes are not completely over. The Black Queens will face Côte d’Ivoire in a WAFCON play-in match, with victory required to advance to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Play-Off Tournament and preserve a route to the 2027 competition.
That leaves Björkegren with the immediate challenge of turning disappointment into recovery. Tournament exits can easily become emotionally consuming, but Ghana still have something significant to play for and little time to dwell on the Malawi defeat.
The next match will consequently test the psychological resilience of a team that came within one victory of direct World Cup qualification. Björkegren must restore confidence while addressing the shortcomings he identified in the quarterfinal, particularly Ghana’s inability to build on the early advantage.
The Black Queens’ broader progress under the Swedish coach should not be erased by one result, but the Malawi defeat will inevitably be remembered as a missed opportunity. Ghana had reached the point where a single victory could have restored the country to the Women’s World Cup after two decades away.
Instead, the path has become considerably more complicated.
For Björkegren, that explains why the loss felt so severe. It was not simply a WAFCON quarterfinal defeat; it was the collapse of Ghana’s most direct route back to the world stage at a moment when the opportunity appeared within reach.
The immediate task now is to ensure the pain does not define the remainder of Ghana’s qualification campaign. The Black Queens still have a route to the World Cup, but after Malawi, there is little margin left for another missed opportunity.
