Ghana’s Black Princesses have been knocked out of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup after a 4-0 defeat by France consigned them to yet another group-stage exit.
Charles Sampson’s side finished bottom of Group C in Poland, missing out on a place in the knockout stages for the eighth consecutive tournament since making their debut in 2010.
The Black Princesses entered their final group game knowing that avoiding defeat would keep their hopes of a historic first appearance in the knockout rounds alive.
Buoyed by their victory over South Korea in the previous match, Sampson made one change to his starting line-up, with Latifa Abesik replacing the injured Esther Asamoah.
Ghana thought they had made the perfect start when Priscilla Mensah found the net early on, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
The sides went into the interval level after a disciplined first-half display from the West Africans.
France, however, took control after the break.
The European side scored four unanswered goals in a dominant second-half performance to inflict Ghana’s second defeat of the tournament.
South Korea’s victory over Ecuador meant Ghana ended the campaign with three points, four behind group winners France and one behind South Korea, while Ecuador claimed third place on goal difference.
The result also confirmed that three of Africa’s four representatives have now exited the tournament, following the earlier eliminations of Benin and Tanzania.
