FIFA U-20 Women’s [Q]: Ghana coach Sampson impressed by Kampala prep

Ghana’s Under-20 women’s head coach, Charles Sampson, has expressed his satisfaction following the team’s initial training session ahead of their high-stakes encounter against Uganda.

The Black Princesses held their first tactical session on Thursday at the YES Centre Sports Arena in Kampala. This served as their primary preparation on Ugandan soil before the second leg of the FIFA U-20 World Cup qualifiers.

Sampson, who guided the Princesses to a hard-fought 2-1 victory in the first leg at the Accra Sports Stadium, began by expressing relief regarding the local weather conditions.

🗣️Head Coach Charles Sampson.!

We Keep going #StrongerTogether💪🏽 #ShineBlackPrincesses✨#BringBackTheLove 🥰 pic.twitter.com/G3GTPAVPXx

— Ghana Women National Teams 🇬🇭 (@GhanaWNT) May 7, 2026

GHANA COACH SAMPSON POSITIVE AS BLACK PRINCESSES LAND IN KAMPALA

“The weather has been good; it is almost like being in Ghana,” Sampson told GFA Communications. “I was expecting conditions where we might have difficulty breathing, but I have not experienced that yet. I was warned about altitude issues, so I hope it stays like this.”

The coach noted that the session was vital for the players to regain their rhythm after the journey from West Africa.

“Because of the travel, we couldn’t train yesterday, so it was good that we could do a ‘shake-up’ today. The pitch we used was an astroturf and quite tough, so we couldn’t push the players too much. However, we are glad with what we were able to accomplish. Hopefully, we can train at the arena where we are going to play on Saturday to get conversant with it.”

THE ROAD TO POLAND

After showing great resilience to fight back from a goal down to win 2-1 in the first leg, Ghana now faces Uganda in the decisive return encounter at the FUFA Stadium in Kampala this Saturday, May 9.

The stakes could not be higher for the Black Princesses; a victory or a draw will secure their qualification for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, which is set to be hosted in Poland.