Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz says the Black Stars must improve their finishing after opening their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a 2-0 defeat to Côte d’Ivoire.

Brighton forward Malick Yalcouyé put the hosts ahead in the first half at the Stade de Bouaké before captain Franck Kessié converted a penalty after the break to seal victory for the Elephants.

Ghana created chances but failed to score

Despite the defeat, Queiroz believes Ghana created enough opportunities to get on the scoresheet but lacked the necessary cutting edge.

“Augustine had a wonderful opportunity, Benjamin had another opportunity, Sibo also had a strike,” the Portuguese coach said.

“I think the difference was exactly that we lacked a little bit of inspiration in our finishing moment. We played differently. As I said, Côte d'Ivoire had more possession.”

Queiroz also said Ghana’s approach became more direct as the game progressed.

“We played a more vertical style with more vertical movements to attack the defensive line of Côte d'Ivoire,” he said.

“We had a first approach in the game, and a second approach when Benjamin and Felix came on, and we could have scored. We had enough opportunities to score.”

He added: “We have to improve in that department, to improve our ability to score because this is another game that we did not score.”

Queiroz points to Ivory Coast's first goal

The Ghana coach also identified Yalcouyé’s first-half goal as an important moment in the match.

“The difference was the first goal of Côte d'Ivoire,” Queiroz said.

“The player had a brilliant strike from outside the box. We missed our one-on-one positioning to cover the space in that moment, but he had a fantastic strike, and we went into the break 1-0 down.”

He also maintained that the second goal made Ghana’s task more difficult.

“I will talk about the second goal again because the second goal was what changed everything and made the difference,” he added.

Queiroz defends penalty comments

The second goal came after Abdul Fatawu Issahaku was penalised for bringing down Yalcouyé inside the area.

Queiroz had criticised the referee’s decision but stressed that his comments were not intended to take anything away from Côte d’Ivoire’s performance.

“First of all, I would like to say in front of the people of Côte d’Ivoire that my comment about the mistake of the referee has nothing to do with Côte d’Ivoire,” he said.

“It has nothing to do with the merit or the quality of the players of Côte d’Ivoire. They played, did their job and we did our job too.”

The Portuguese coach said recovering from a one-goal deficit would have been different from trying to come back from two goals down.

“To recover from 1-0 down is completely different from recovering from 2-0 down,” he added.

Queiroz described the encounter as a closely contested game between the two sides.

“The game was tight as always. The 16 over 15 wins show that Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire always have tight games.”

Focus turns to The Gambia

The defeat leaves Ghana without a point from their opening Group C fixture.

The Black Stars have returned to Accra and will continue preparations for Tuesday’s home match against The Gambia.

Queiroz said the immediate priority is to recover the players and prepare for the next game.

“The result is now gone, it is history. For us now, it is just recovery.”

“We lost one player during the game, but now it's just to recover our players and be focused for the next game and win the next game at home. That is what we are going to do now - prepare the players as much as we can to win the next game.”

Ghana are seeking a return to the Africa Cup of Nations after missing the previous edition, ending a run of more than two decades of consecutive appearances at the continental tournament.