Ghana’s Black Princesses will step up their preparations for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup when they face Mexico’s U-20 women’s team in an international friendly on Saturday, August 29, 2026.
The game will be played behind closed doors at the Stadion Miejskiego Klubu Sportowego Górnik Wałbrzych in Poland, with kick-off scheduled for 12:00 GMT, corresponding to 14:00 local time.
The encounter will be Ghana’s second friendly during their training camp in Poland as head coach Charles Sampson continues to fine-tune his squad ahead of the global youth tournament.
The Black Princesses began their preparations with a convincing 4-0 victory over Polish side Ślęza Wrocław in their opening warm-up match.
The victory over Ślęza Wrocław gave Sampson an early opportunity to assess his players, but the Mexico fixture should provide a more demanding test against an international opponent with experience at this level.
For Sampson, the friendly is less about the result and more about finding the right combinations before Ghana begin their World Cup campaign.
The match offers another opportunity to improve cohesion, test tactical approaches and evaluate players competing for starting places.
Ghana are entering the tournament with a significant objective after failing to progress beyond the group stage in all seven of their previous appearances.
The Black Princesses will make an eighth consecutive appearance at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, but are still searching for their first qualification to the knockout phase. Ghana’s previous seven campaigns came in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2024, with the group stage remaining the best finish.
Ghana Drawn in Group C
The 2026 tournament will begin in Poland on September 5 and run until September 27, with 24 teams competing across six groups. Ghana have been placed in Group C alongside Ecuador, Korea Republic and France.
The Black Princesses will open their campaign against Ecuador on Sunday, September 6, at the Arena Sosnowiec. They will then face Korea Republic on Wednesday, September 9, before concluding the group stage against France on Saturday, September 12.
All three of Ghana’s group matches are scheduled for 16:00 GMT.
Ghana’s history at the competition has been characterised by promising performances without a breakthrough. Their debut came in Germany in 2010, where they earned four points but failed to advance from a group containing the United States, Korea Republic and Switzerland. They recorded their first tournament victory against Switzerland, winning 2-0.
Princesses Chasing Historic Breakthrough
The tournament format gives Ghana an opportunity to end that long wait. The six group winners, six runners-up and four best third-placed teams will advance to the knockout stage, meaning the Black Princesses do not necessarily need to finish in the top two to reach the last 16.
That makes the Mexico friendly particularly important as Sampson seeks to establish a squad capable of handling the demands of three group matches in seven days.
The Black Princesses secured their place at the World Cup after overcoming Uganda 3-2 on aggregate in the final round of African qualifying. Ghana trailed in the decisive second leg in Kampala but fought back to secure qualification, with captain Linda Owusu Ansah producing a crucial set-piece goal.
With the World Cup less than two weeks away, Saturday’s closed-door meeting with Mexico represents one of Ghana’s final opportunities to sharpen their preparations.
A strong performance would give Sampson further evidence of the squad’s readiness as the Black Princesses chase a historic first appearance in the knockout stages.
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