Team news, stats and head-to-head: All you need to know about Ghana vs Madagascar game

The Black Stars will face Madagascar in their opening 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers fixture on Friday, November 17, 2023.

Both teams are in Group I of the qualifiers alongside Mali, Chad, Central African Republic, and Comoros.

In the new qualifiers round for the World Cup, only the winner of the group gets automatic qualification for the finals while the second place would earn a place in the playoff if they are able to make the best four runners-up.

With the new format, both Ghana and Madagascar will be hoping for a strong start to set their path of qualifying for the tournament on course.

Ghana and Madagascar have met only two times in competitive games after they were paired in the same group for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

During the qualifiers, Ghana beat Madagascar 3-0 in Cape Coast and drew goalless in the away fixture. Ghana went on to top the group and qualify for the AFCON while Madagascar finished bottom of the Group.

This will thus be the third meeting between the two with Madagasy searching for their first win over the Black Stars.

The game will come off at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, a venue where the Black Stars have not lost a game since 2017.

The Balck Stars are on a four-game winning streak at home and will be looking to extend the run.

Moreover, Chris Hughton's charges would want to get back to winning ways after an embarrassing performance during the October international break, when they lost 4-0 and 2-0 to USA and Mexico respectively.

The game is scheduled for 16:00 GMT kick-off time.

Teams News

Ghana

The Black Stars have some significant absentees who missed through injury. The said players include Thomas Partey, Tariq Lamptey, Alexander Djiku, Joseph Aidoo, and Kamaldeen Sulemana.

Meanwhile, Madagascar do not have any major injury worries and thus will have a strong side for the game.

Head-to-head

Ghana 3-3 Madagascar - Four Nations tournament

Ghana 3-0 Madagascar - AFCON qualifiers

Madagascar 0-0 Ghana - AFCON qualifiers

EE/EK