Carlos Queiroz strongly contested the penalty converted by Franck Kessié during Ghana’s 2-0 defeat to Ivory Coast on Thursday, September 24 in Bouaké, in the first round of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. The Black Stars coach also denounced the absence of video assistant referee (VAR) support in the competition.
“This penalty is a joke. I just watched it again on television,” said the Portuguese coach at the post-match press conference, according to the transcript published by the Ghana Football Association. For him, this decision disrupted the balance of a still undecided match when Ghana was only trailing 1-0.
Malick Yalcouyé opened the scoring shortly before halftime with a long-range strike. Franck Kessié then scored the second goal from a penalty after the restart, giving the Elephants a lead that the Black Stars were unable to reduce.
Queiroz, however, took care to separate his criticism of the refereeing from the Ivorian team’s performance. He congratulated the players of Côte d’Ivoire and clarified that his reaction did not call their merit into question. He nevertheless believes that VAR should be used during the qualifiers for the continent’s premier competition.
The Ghanaian coach also assured that the defeat would not affect his team’s confidence. Ghana will host Gambia on September 29 in Accra, while Ivory Coast will continue their campaign after securing three points in Bouaké.
