Ghana’s Black Sharks will discover their opponents for the 2026 CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) conducts the final tournament draw in Cairo on Wednesday, November 4.
The draw, scheduled for 16:00 Cairo time at CAF Headquarters in Egypt, will determine the composition of the two groups for the eight-nation competition, which takes place in Senegal from November 28 to December 6.
Ghana secured their return to the continental championship with an impressive 10-7 aggregate victory over West African rivals Nigeria in the final qualifying round. After playing out a 3-3 draw against the Sand Eagles in the first leg, the Black Sharks delivered a 7-4 victory in the return encounter at the Keta beach to complete the job.
Their qualification places them alongside Angola, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal and Uganda at the finals, with Ghana preparing for their fourth appearance in the competition.
CAF’s draw procedures have placed the eight qualified countries into predetermined positions and three seeding pots, with the allocation reflecting performances across the previous three editions of the championship.
Hosts and defending champions Senegal will occupy position A1 in Group A, while Mauritania, runners-up at the 2024 tournament, have been assigned position B1 in Group B.
The remaining six countries will be drawn from three pots, with Morocco and Mozambique in Pot 1, Malawi and Uganda in Pot 2, and Ghana and Angola completing Pot 3.
Ghana Face Potentially Difficult Group
The draw will begin with Pot 3, from which the first country selected will occupy position A4 in Group A, while the second will be assigned B4 in Group B. The same procedure will subsequently be followed for Pot 2 and Pot 1 to complete the group compositions.
Ghana’s position in Pot 3 means they could be drawn against any of the seeded teams in the other pots, including Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco and Mozambique.
A meeting with Senegal would present a particularly difficult challenge, given the hosts’ remarkable dominance of the competition. The Teranga Lions have won five consecutive titles, lifting the trophy in 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2024.
Morocco are another established force, having secured three successive third-place finishes in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Egypt, although absent from the list of qualified teams this time, have also been among the competition’s strongest sides, finishing runners-up in 2022.
Mozambique and Mauritania have equally demonstrated their ability to challenge the established powers, with Mozambique reaching the 2021 final and Mauritania finishing runners-up in 2024.
Black Sharks Target Historic Progress
The 2026 tournament represents another opportunity for Ghana to improve their standing in a competition that began in 2015 in Seychelles, with Madagascar winning the inaugural championship.
Initially staged in 2015, the CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations has developed into the continent’s premier national-team competition in the discipline. Senegal have emerged as its most successful nation, while Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco and Mozambique have also established themselves as regular contenders.
Ghana made their debut at the inaugural tournament in Seychelles in 2015 before returning for the 2016 edition in Nigeria. Both campaigns ended with seventh-place finishes, and the Black Sharks subsequently missed the 2018, 2021 and 2022 tournaments.
Their return in Egypt in 2024 produced a significant improvement, with Ghana finishing fifth, their best-ever placing at the championship.
Although they failed to reach the semi-finals, the Black Sharks recovered from defeats against Egypt and Morocco to record a commanding 10-3 victory over Tanzania. They followed that performance with a 5-3 win against Mozambique in the classification match to secure fifth place.
Forward Alexander Adjei was particularly influential during that campaign, scoring 11 goals to emerge as one of the tournament’s outstanding attacking performers.
Ghana will now seek to build on that achievement in Senegal, where the opportunity to reach the semi-finals for the first time awaits.
With the group-stage draw set to determine their immediate opponents, the Black Sharks will be hoping for a favourable route as they prepare to challenge Africa’s established beach soccer powers.
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