Hasaacas Ladies Chief Executive Officer Evelyn Nsiah Asare believes Ghana’s Black Queens remain capable of qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil despite missing out on automatic qualification at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).

Ghana’s hopes of booking a direct place at the tournament ended with a 2-1 defeat to Malawi in the WAFCON quarter-finals, denying the Black Queens a place in the semi-finals and forcing them into the FIFA Women’s World Cup Play-Off Tournament.

The tournament, scheduled to take place from 24 November to 5 December 2026, will see Ghana face Ecuador, Uzbekistan and Papua New Guinea in the preliminary phase as they chase a return to the World Cup for the first time since 2007.

Speaking after the draw, Nsiah Asare said she remained optimistic that Ghana could still secure a place in Brazil despite the setback.

“After seeing the fixtures, I strongly believe that we’ll be able to go to the World Cup 2027,” she said. “It is not easy because it’s now bringing another financial burden to the nation and to the team.”

She suggested the Black Queens’ preparations for WAFCON had been disrupted by changes to their training arrangements and other aspects of their build-up to the tournament.

“We had a team before we went for the tournament, and I can say that now when you talk about Black Queens, there have been so many changes as far as training tour and other stuff are concerned,” she said.

Nsiah Asare described the failure to secure automatic qualification as particularly painful, noting that Ghana had previously reached the Women’s World Cup on every occasion they had attempted to qualify through the continental competition.

“This is the first time Black Queens wanted to qualify for the World Cup and we were not able,” she said. “On three previous occasions, anytime there was a World Cup, we qualified.”

Although Ghana’s quarter-final exit ended their hopes of a straightforward qualification route, the Black Queens kept their World Cup dream alive by defeating Ivory Coast 2-1 in the African play-off, earning one of the continent’s two places in the global play-off tournament.

The Hasaacas Ladies boss admitted she had entered WAFCON with even greater ambitions, believing Ghana had the quality to win the continental title for the first time.

“At the beginning of this tournament, my thinking was that we were going to lift this trophy for the first time, but it didn’t materialise,” she said.

Despite the disappointment, she insists the Black Queens still have everything to play for.

“We are still in the contest, and we know that we’ll be able to qualify for Brazil 2027.”

The Black Queens will begin their play-off campaign against Ecuador before facing Uzbekistan and Papua New Guinea in a bid to keep alive their hopes of ending a 20-year absence from the FIFA Women’s World Cup.