Kirin Cup 2025: Ghana suffer second loss against South Korea

Ghana suffered another loss in the second game of the 2025 Kirin Cup against South Korea at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Tuesday.

The four-time African champions had lost 2-0 to the Blue Samurai of Japan in the first game at the Toyota Stadium on November 14.

Ghana, who fielded a second string side, began the encounter quite slowly but recovered to seal the intended sharp breaks of the South Koreans in the first quarter of the game.

Both nations continued to knock on doors in search of the opening goal, but it was the Koreans who were a notch above Ghana with their incursions, with Benjamin Asare leaping to save the header by Kwon Hyuk-kyu in the 41st minute.

As South Korea failed to create any meaningful scoring chances, Ghana came up with a fine advantage when Prince Kwabena Adu rounded off the Korean goalkeeper, but he was flagged offside in the 54th minute.

Head coach of South Korea, Hong Myung-bo, made quick substitutions in the 60th minute, which paid off when Lee Kang-in delivered a perfect cross for left-back Lee Tae-seok to head in the opener in the 63rd minute.

The hosts earned a penalty kick later in the game following a foul on Hwang Hee-chan, who was brought down in the area, but Hwang wasted the chance to keep the game at 1-0 for the Koreans. Ghana, however, regained control of the game but failed to find the equaliser, ending the game at 1-0.

Ghana’s last meeting with South Korea ended 3-2 in favour of the Black Stars at the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Both Ghana and South Korea have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, USA and Mexico, pending the final draw on Friday, December 5, at the J.F. Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

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