Head coach of the Black Maidens, Nana Joe Adarkwa, says his team is using the 2026 WAFU B U-17 Girls Cup as preparation for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Ghana is set for a first appearance at the U-17 World Cup after serving a Confederation of African Football (CAF) ban in July 2022 for age cheating. Adarkwa’s side will travel to Morocco for the global showpiece, which kicks off next month in Rabat, but the team is currently using the WAFU B competition as a preparatory ground for the tournament. “It was a very good game and a nice game for my girls. We are here to prepare the team for the World Cup. So every match is a preparation match for Ghana, and we are happy,” Adarkwa told the press after beating Burkina Faso in the opening game on Tuesday night. ‘Every department of our team is good’ – Black Maidens coach after Burkina Faso win“We have started on a good note, and we are hoping that we are going to end on a good note. We can score goals at any time, but we want to continue here so that when we get there (at the World Cup), we can do the same. “We used to score more goals when we were playing the qualifiers, and we have about three or four players in the U-20 team who went to Poland, and they are back. They are not in the team, so we have quality all the time, and we are happy to have them all the time.”Ghana will face Norway, Brazil and Canada in the group stage of the U-17 Women’s World Cup next month.