{
  "id": 12648115,
  "title": "Black Maidens: Ghana’s envious record at U-17 Women’s World Cup ahead of seventh appearance",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/black-maidens-ghanas-envious-record-at-u-17-womens-world-cup-ahead-of",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-07T14:26:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/black-maidens-ghanas-envious-record-at-u-17-womens-world-cup-ahead-of-seventh-appearance/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ghana, known as the Black Maidens, is preparing to compete in the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, set to kick off on October 17 in Morocco. This will be the team's seventh appearance at the World Cup, following a three-year absence. Their last tournament was in 2018, where they failed to advance from the group stage.\n\nGhana missed out on qualifying for the 2022 edition after losing to Morocco on penalties, and were subsequently banned from participating in the past two editions due to age cheating accusations. Nana Joe Adarkwa, the former head coach of the Ampem Darkoa Ladies, will lead the team once again, knowing the importance of this World Cup appearance after only two previous group stage eliminations.\n\nIn the 2026 tournament, Ghana will face Norway, Brazil, and Canada in Group C, with all matches to be held in Rabat. This is Ghana's first appearance in the U-17 World Cup since 2008, when they made their debut under Abraham Allotey. In that year, the team drew 1-1 with the Asian side and lost 3-2 to Germany before defeating Costa Rica 1-0. Unfortunately, Allotey's team failed to advance to the knockout stage.",
  "summary": "The Black Maidens make a return to the global stage after being absent from the last three editions, with their last appearance in 2018.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "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."
}