Ivory Coast Benefitted From Our Mistakes – Kurt Okraku
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Ivory Coast Benefitted From Some of Our Mistakes – Kurt Okraku
Kurt Okraku isn’t shying away from an uncomfortable truth. The GFA President believes Ivory Coast’s rise in African football owes something to Ghana’s own missteps along the way and he’s saying so openly ahead of a huge qualifier between the two sides.
Okraku made the comments while previewing Ghana’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ivory Coast, giving credit to the Elephants’ progress while making clear Ghana still has lessons to learn from its own history.
Cote d’Ivoire have done well in the last few years. They were one of those few countries that benefitted from some of the mistakes we made to become African champions, Okraku told 3Sports.
Ivory Coast’s rise hasn’t come out of nowhere. They’ve built themselves into one of the continent’s strongest sides in recent years, a run that peaked with their AFCON triumph on home soil in 2024.
But Okraku points to one specific moment as a turning point and it involves Ghana directly. He recalled the chaos of matchday three at the 2024 tournament, when Ghana faced Mozambique with a spot in the knockout rounds well within reach.
When they hosted the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, I remember on matchday three, Ghana was playing Mozambique, he said. Eighty nine minutes, Ghana was leading 2-0. Ghana was on our way out of the group to make it to the knockout stage. Then after four minutes, the score was 2-2 and Cote d’Ivoire, who were on their way home, found themselves back in the competition and they went all the way to become African champions.
In other words, four minutes of collapse from Ghana ended up handing Ivory Coast a lifeline they didn’t let go of and the rest, as they say, is history.
Fast forward to now, and the two sides are set to meet again, this time in a high-stakes qualifying fixture in September, with both nations chasing a place at the 2027 AFCON.
For Ghana, this is more than just another match on the calendar. It’s a chance to put an old wound behind them and show they’ve genuinely learned something from that painful night. Given the Black Stars’ recent struggles in AFCON qualification and tournament performances, there’s added pressure to get this one right.
Okraku’s honesty about past mistakes carries a clear message underneath it: Ghana can’t afford to hand opponents the same kind of openings again, especially not against a side as sharp and battle-tested as Ivory Coast has become.
With the Elephants now firmly among Africa’s elite, this qualifier is shaping up to be one of the standout fixtures of the entire 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign.
Ghana, who last lifted the AFCON trophy back in 1982, have been drawn in Group C alongside Somalia and The Gambia, as the Black Stars look to book their return to the tournament after missing out last time around.
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