It’s a West African derby on the cards for the Black Satellites in the Round of 16 of the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Ghana have drawn Mali which will be played on Wednesday.
Sellas Tetteh’s team are unbeaten as they topped Group B with seven points while the Eaglets finished 3rd in Group C. The two meet in Wellington where they have both been based since the start of the tournament.
Ghana, world champions in 2009, will go into the game as favorites against Mali, whose best finish was with a Seydou Keita-led team ten years earlier.
Both teams have already met twice this year at the African Youth Championship in Senegal, with the Malians edging their group stage clash 2-1 and Ghana getting their revenge with a 3-1 win in the third-place match.
The winner of the tie potentially faces another continental derby against Nigeria who face deadly Europeans Germany for a place in the quarter-finals.
All four African teams in the tournament survived their groups. Debutants Senegal also face another European side Ukraine next.
The Ukrainians won Group A with seven points. Both also clash on Wednesday morning in Auckland.
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Story by Ghana/Joy Sports/Gary Al-Smith
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