Ghana have been eliminated from the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup after suffering a heavy 4-0 defeat to France in their final Group C game on Saturday.
The Black Princesses needed a positive result to keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stage alive, but France proved too strong in the decisive encounter.
Clara Bertrand opened the scoring for France before Justine Rouquet doubled the advantage. Rouquet completed her brace to put France firmly in control, while Ornella Graziani added the fourth goal to seal a convincing victory for the European side.
The result sees France finish top of Group C and advance to the knockout phase as group winners. Republic of Korea secured second place after beating Ecuador 3-2 in the other group game. Ecuador, despite the defeat, remain in contention for a place in the knockout stage as one of the best-performing third-placed teams.
For Ghana, however, the defeat brings another disappointing World Cup campaign to an end.
The Black Princesses had started the tournament with a 3-0 defeat to Ecuador before recovering strongly to beat Korea Republic 3-1 in their second group game. That victory had revived their hopes of finally progressing beyond the group stage, but they were unable to produce another positive result against France.
Ghana’s elimination means they have once again failed to reach the knockout stage of the U-20 Women’s World Cup, extending their wait for a breakthrough in the competition.
France will face Canada in the last 16, while the Republic will take on Argentina. The Black Princesses will now return home to reflect on another campaign that promised a route into the knockout phase but ultimately ended at the group stage.
