Ghana will return to the 2022 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship after a six-year absence with hopes of replicating their previous praiseworthy performances in the tournament in Algeria.

The Black Galaxies hopes of excelling in the tournament have been boosted by the presence of two players Danlad Ibrahim and Afriyie Barnieh who were part of the Black Stars squad at the just-ended 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

They were impressive in their qualifying campaign sparking hopes that they would replicate their showing in the 2009 and 2014 edition of the tournaments where they reached the final competition exclusively for home-based players.

The intentions were made clear during the qualifiers as they got a smooth run over Benin in the preliminary round, claiming back-to-back wins in both legs in Cape Coast and Cotonou to progress with a 4-0 aggregate score line.

Ghana then faced arch-rivals and continental giants Nigeria in the next round in a keenly contested tie with the Ghanaians sailing through via the post-match penalty shootouts.

The first leg ended 2-0 in Ghana’s favour in Cape Coast, and a similar score line was registered in favour of Nigeria in Abuja before the penalties decided the winner.

The victory sealed the Black Galaxies’ place to give them another chance to make as they seek to fight for the ultimate in their fourth appearance in the tournament.

Ghana have been handed a tough draw to play title holders Morocco as well as Sudan and Madagascar in Group C.

Match Calendar (Group C)

January 15, 2023: Madagascar vs. Ghana, 20h00 local time, Constantine

January 19, 2023: Ghana vs. Sudan, 20h00 local time, Constantine

January 23, 2023: Ghana vs. Morocco, 20h00 local time, Constantine