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Ghana's group C opponents, Comoros qualified to play in the knockout stage of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday, January 20, 20121 at the expense of the Black Stars.
The Black Stars were booted out of the competition by debutantes Comoros at the group stages for the first time in 15 years.
Ghana picked up just one point in 3 matches in what was their worst performance in the history of the tournament.
So, how did an 800,000 population like Comoros qualify out of the Group ahead of Ghana?
Comoros was tipped as one of the underdogs in the AFCON being a rookie and having less experience.
The Islanders began their 2021 AFCON journey with a defeat to Gabon in their first game. Aaron Boupendza's scored the only goal of the game with a fine strike from a narrow-angle.
The Black Stars also lost by a lone goal to Morocco after an erroneous mistake from Thomas Partey.
In their second game as well, Morocco defeated the Islanders 2-0. Selim Amallah scored in16 minutes and Zakaria Aboukhlal struck on the final whistle to seal the win.
However, Ghana managed to pick up a point in their game against Gabon which ended 1-1 with Andre Ayew on target.
Ahead of the final group game, Morocco was top of the table with 6 points followed by Gabon with 4 points, Ghana with 1 point and Comoros trailing behind with no point.
Per the permutations, Ghana needed a draw or win to seal one of the four spots reserved for 3rd placed teams in the Round of 16.
However, the Black Stars flopped and Comoros ended up shocking Ghana with a 3-2 win to earn their first 3 points in the competition and send the Black Stars home.
After placing 3rd in Group C, Comoros had to wait till the final game in the Group stages to be announced as one of the teams seeded to the Round of 16 stages after two other teams in Group E and D failed to amass enough points.
Algeria’s 2-0 defeat to Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea’s 1-0 victory over Sierra Leone means Comoros qualified as one of the best third-placed teams in the tournament.
It also means that Ghana would have sealed qualification on goal difference with a draw despite having the same 2 points with Sierra Leone.
Comoros will play Cameroon at the round of 16 stage of the competition.
Comoros national team