Ghana will be desperate to keep their hopes of reaching the 2018 FIFA World Cup alive when they take on Congo at the Stade Municipal de Kintélé in Brazzaville today.

Black stars of Ghana

The Black Stars dreams of reaching a fourth world showpiece in succession suffered a massive blow in Kumasi last Friday, as the Red Devils held their hosts to a 1-1 draw at the Baba Yara Stadium.

Thievy Bifouma and Thomas Partey on the score-sheet in a result that did neither team any favours in their World Cup quest. Uganda sit top of Group E following a 1-0 win over Egypt with the Pharaohs to host the Cranes in the reverse fixture in Alexandria this evening.

Ghana are five points off the pace and know failure to win in Brazzaville will in all likelihood crush their chances of reaching next year’s World Cup in Russia.

Head Coach Kwesi Appiah remains hopeful, though, but admitted in aftermath of last week’s match that they will need to come up trumps in their remaining fixtures if they are to stand any chance:

“It’s very disappointing to drop points at this crucial stage of the qualifiers but in football you can never say never,” said Appiah. “The most important thing is to try and do the best you can.