U-17 AFCON: Tale of two halves in entertaining draw between Ghana and Algeria

Algeria picked themselves up after a disastrous first half to claw back and draw Ghana 2-2 to complete the first round of matches from the group stage of the 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (U-17 AFCON) in Morocco.

The Black Starlets got off to an inspired start with two goals in the opening ten minutes, punctuated by Eric Adu Gyamfi’s brilliant strike from over forty yards out. Disaster struck just past three minutes for Algeria goalkeeper Yazid Tifrani, whose diving attempt to keep a loose ball out of place went to Robinho Gao Yavi for a finish from close range.

Gyamfi then scored the goal of the tournament so far with only ten minutes gone when he thumped an ambitious effort that sailed over Tifrani and into the goal.

But after a quiet opening 45 minutes, the North African team’s attack sparked into life. A pass from the right wing was cleverly left by Melwane Zaidi and Adam Benali finished the movement with a composed shot past Black Starlets keeper Solomon Kesse.

Zaidi then got on the scoresheet himself less than three minutes later when he arrived at the near post to nod in Yacine Abed’s cross while Kesse grasped at air. It could have been much worse for the West Africans when a penalty kick was awarded seven minutes later but a total collapse was avoided after Ilyas Grini sent his spot kick off target and into orbit.

FULL-TIME! 🇩🇿🇬🇭

Algeria and Ghana could not be separated after a thrilling encounter. 🔥#TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 pic.twitter.com/BpaJW1GIoV

— CAF Online (@CAF_Online) May 14, 2026

South Africa lead Group D following their victory over Senegal, leaving a highly competitive group wide open. The next matchday in the group will take place on Monday and the tournament will take a one day break on Friday.