‘I am proud of the ladies’ – Nana Joe Adarkwa reacts to Ghana’s U-17 Women’s World Cup exit.

Ghana U-17 women’s national team head coach Nana Joe Adarkwa has expressed pride in his players despite their elimination from the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup following a narrow quarterfinal defeat to Japan.

The Black Maidens’ impressive campaign came to an end on Sunday, November 1, after suffering a 1-0 loss to the Asian side, missing out on a place in the semifinals.

Despite the disappointment, Adarkwa praised his players and technical team for their efforts throughout the tournament, insisting they gave everything but ultimately fell short against a determined Japanese side.

Speaking after the defeat, the Ghana coach acknowledged the quality of their opponents while commending everyone involved in the team’s campaign.

“I am proud of the ladies, proud of my technical team; they did well, they played their hearts out, and they did their best, but our best wasn’t enough,” he said.

“In the end, I have to congratulate the Japanese; they did well.”

Adarkwa promises lessons from World Cup campaign

While the quarterfinal exit represents a setback for Ghana’s ambitions, Adarkwa believes the team can take valuable lessons from their experience and use them to improve in future competitions.

The coach indicated that the technical team would assess the campaign, identify areas that need improvement and build on the positives from their performances.

“Going forward, we are going to sit back and see what happens; we will build on the positives and learn from the things we did wrong,” he added.

The Black Maidens will now turn their attention to preparations for future assignments after falling short of their ambition to reach the last four.

Nigeria carries Africa’s hopes

Ghana’s elimination leaves Nigeria as the only African representative remaining at the tournament.

The Nigerian side secured their place in the semifinals after defeating Venezuela, keeping the continent’s hopes of winning the competition alive.

For Ghana, however, the focus will be on taking lessons from their World Cup experience as Adarkwa and his technical team look to build on the team’s progress.