Nigeria and Ghana endured a difficult night in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on September 27, 2026, suffering defeats against Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia respectively. Guinea-Bissau claimed a convincing 3-0 victory over the Super Eagles in Group L, while The Gambia staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Ghana 4-2 in Group C. These results left both West African neighbours facing early pressure in their respective qualifying groups.
Nigeria's hopes of building on their opening-day victory over Madagascar suffered a major setback as Guinea-Bissau recorded a 3-0 win. Franculino put Guinea-Bissau ahead after 15 minutes, Mama Baldé doubled their advantage midway through the second half, and Álvaro Djaló completed the victory in the fifth minute of stoppage time. This result gave Guinea-Bissau a second consecutive victory after their opening 2-0 away win over co-hosts Tanzania.
Ghana also suffered a damaging defeat after surrendering a two-goal lead against The Gambia. Ernest Nuamah opened the scoring for Ghana from the penalty spot in the 27th minute, and Felix Afena-Gyan doubled the Black Stars' advantage six minutes later. However, The Gambia responded quickly, with Muhammed Badamosi converting a penalty in the 37th minute and Omar Colley equalising five minutes later to send the teams into the break level at 2-2.
The Gambia completed their comeback in the 68th minute through Ebrima Colley, who scored again in stoppage time to secure a 4-2 victory. This win gave The Gambia six points from two matches, following their opening 2-1 victory over Somalia. Ghana, meanwhile, have lost both of their opening qualifiers, having previously fallen 2-0 away to Côte d'Ivoire.
While Nigeria and Ghana stumbled, Rwanda maintained their perfect start by beating Cape Verde 2-1 away in Group K. Benchimol gave Cape Verde the lead five minutes before half-time, but Claude Niyomugabo equalised in first-half stoppage time. Elie Iradukunda Tatou then completed Rwanda's comeback seven minutes after the restart, securing a second consecutive victory for Rwanda.
Other matches on Matchday 2 saw Zambia recover from their opening-day defeat to Algeria by beating Togo 2-0 in Group I, and Uganda record their first victory, defeating Libya 1-0 in Group H. According to the Confederation of African Football, the 48 teams in the qualifiers are divided into 12 groups of four, with the highest-placed non-host nation qualifying from groups containing co-hosts Kenya, Tanzania, or Uganda.
The 2027 AFCON qualifiers will resume in November 2026, with Matchday 3 and 4 fixtures scheduled for November 9-17, 2026. Matchdays 5-6 will take place on March 22-30, 2027. The results from Matchday 2 mean Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, and Rwanda are among the teams to have made perfect starts, while Nigeria and Ghana will have to recover quickly from their defeats as the qualifying race develops.
Key points
- Nigeria lost 3-0 to Guinea-Bissau in Group L.
- Ghana fell 4-2 to The Gambia in Group C.
- Rwanda maintained their perfect start by beating Cape Verde 2-1 away in Group K.
