Ghana U20 Women

The fixture that matters to the Black Princesses is not a final but a semi-final rehearsal: Nigeria's Flamingos, met so often across WAFU Zone B and World Cup qualifying that the tie has picked up its own name, the Jollof Derby. It was Nigeria that Ghana beat on penalties in 2023 to lift the first WAFU Zone B Under-20 Women's Cup. Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo fill out the zone but do not carry the same weight.

Ghana's under-20 side did not so much debut as stumble into existence. Its first match, against Cameroon in the 2006 African Women's Under-20 Championship quarter-final, ended with both teams thrown out of the tournament after Ghana was found to have fielded overage players. The squad has trained since at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram, on a pitch known as betPawa Park, and steps up to the Accra Sports Stadium or Kumasi's Baba Yara Stadium when qualifiers demand more seats than the training base can offer.

The side has produced players who went on to lead the senior Black Queens, among them Elizabeth Addo and Portia Boakye, who did the same a cycle earlier. The 2023 African Games gold, won with a final victory over South Africa, stands as the age group's clearest achievement.

What still eludes the Black Princesses is the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup itself. Eight appearances in the competition, stretching from 2010 through the 2026 edition, have yet to produce a single trip past the group stage.