{
  "id": 10908565,
  "title": "Ghana, Nigeria and Cape Verde crash in AFCON qualifying",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/ghana-nigeria-and-cape-verde-crash-in-afcon-qualifying-10908565",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-30T09:05:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Citizen",
    "slug": "the-citizen",
    "url": "https://www.citizen.co.za/sport/soccer/world-soccer/ghana-nigeria-and-cape-verde-crash-in-afcon-qualifying/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former champions Ghana, Nigeria, and World Cup underdogs Cape Verde were all upset in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches. Ghana lost 4-2 to Gambia, after leading 2-0 at one point. Nigeria, playing against Guinea-Bissau, started poorly, trailing after only 15 minutes, and eventually lost 3-0. Cape Verde, who previously beat eventual champions Spain in their World Cup debut and Argentina in the round of 32, lost 2-1 to Rwanda. In other results, Algeria drew 2-2 with Burundi, Morocco, Senegal, and Egypt won their respective matches in Group I, with Egypt resting captain Mohamed Salah due to concerns about playing on an artificial surface in Juba.",
  "summary": "Morocco won 2-0, Senegal 1-0 and Egypt cruised to a 5-0 victory despite the absence of captain and star forward Mohamed Salah.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 7,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Punch Nigeria",
        "title": "Guinea-Bissau defeat Nigeria 3-0 in AFCON qualifier",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/guinea-bissau-defeat-nigeria-3-0-in-afcon-qualifier",
        "published": "2026-09-29T18:10:53.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Premium Times",
        "title": "Guinea-Bissau thrash Nigeria 3-0",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/guinea-bissau-thrash-nigeria-3-0",
        "published": "2026-09-29T18:37:02.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Ghana, Nigeria and Cape Verde crash in Afcon qualifying",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/ghana-nigeria-and-cape-verde-crash-in-afcon-qualifying",
        "published": "2026-09-29T22:06:33.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
        "title": "Morocco call off Ghana friendly after Black Stars’ AFCON setback",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/morocco-call-off-ghana-friendly-after-black-stars-afcon-setback",
        "published": "2026-09-29T22:36:25.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Ghana, Nigeria and Cape Verde crash in AFCON qualifying",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/ghana-nigeria-and-cape-verde-crash-in-afcon-qualifying",
        "published": "2026-09-30T00:26:23.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Adom Online",
        "title": "Kurt Okraku must resign after Ghana’s poor AFCON start – Former NSA Board Chairman",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/kurt-okraku-must-resign-after-ghanas-poor-afcon-start-former-nsa",
        "published": "2026-09-30T10:29:57.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}