The Black Stars of Ghana battled valiantly but ultimately fell to Portugal 3-2 in their opening game at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Ghana entered the game with great expectations of defeating the Portuguese, but they fell short as their rivals controlled play from the moment the whistle blew.
As Ghana withstood all of the pressure they brought to the game, the first half came to a barren conclusion.
After the break, Portugal continued to put pressure on Ghana and eventually won a soft penalty when Slaisu made a small touch with Cristiano Ronaldo in the penalty area.
Ismail Elfath of the USA declined to glance at the VAR box despite attempts to persuade him to do so and stood by his call.
Ati-Zigi just missed the penalty shot as Ronaldo stepped up and converted it.
Later, Ghana changed the game as they searched for a goal, and captain Andre Ayew scored the equaliser off a feed from Mohammed Kudus in the 73rd minute.
Joao Felix scored the equaliser shortly after regaining parity thanks to a defense-splitting ball that connected with him.
Rafael Leao scored Portugal’s third goal two minutes later, ending Ghana’s chances of tying the score.
