Substitute Joseph Opoku secured a late victory over the Central African Republic to confirm the Black Satellites as the Group C winner of the 2025 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Ghana maintained their unbeaten streak at the ongoing tournament with a 1-0 win over the Central African Republic in the final group match at the Suez Stadium.
Coach Desmond Ofei made five changes in his team that picked a narrow win over Senegal, as Joseph Aidoo, Maxwell Azafokpe and Ishmael Addo earned starting berths with Andrews Adjabeng and Abdul Hakim Sulemana returned to the starting lineup.
The Black Satellites took over possession to dominate the game in both halves, with FC Barcelona's Abdul Aziz Issah tormenting the defence of the Central African Republic.
Aziz Issah came close to opening the scoring for Ghana in the 12th minute, but his effort missed by a whisker, and he was also denied by the woodwork in the 33rd minute of the game.
The Central African Republic struggled to break into the backline of the Ghanaians to cause any havoc, as there were a lot of inroads for them to deal with in the second half of the game.
The late tactical substitutions by Desmond Ofei earned the Black Satellites their second win of the ongoing tournament when Joseph Opoku, Hayford Adu Boahen, George Tei Nagadzi and Michael Amer Mahama were introduced in the last twenty minutes of the game.
Substitute Joseph Opoku brilliantly snatched the three maximum points for the Black Satellites when he picked up a pass from Adu Boahen to superbly run past the defence of the Central African Republic to slot the ball calmly into the back of the net.
Following the victory, Ghana finished as the Group C winners with seven points, while Senegal booked themselves a spot in the quarter-finals after a 2-0 win over DR Congo in the final group game.
Ghana will face the third-place team from Group A or B in the quarter-finals stage, and a win will secure the Black Satellites a ticket to the 2025 FIFA U-20 Cup, which will be hosted in Chile.
