Black Maidens fight back to hold Brazil in six-goal thriller

Ghana’s Black Maidens mounted a determined fightback to hold Brazil to a pulsating 3-3 draw on Wednesday night, with Priscilla Mensah striking five minutes from time to deny the South Americans victory at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

In a six-goal encounter, Ghana showed resilience against one of the tournament favourites, recovering from an early setback and responding again after Brazil had twice regained the lead.

The result gives the Black Maidens their first point of the campaign after two matches, keeping alive their hopes of progressing to the knockout stage.

Brazil made the brighter start and needed only seven minutes to break the deadlock, with Nicolly finding the net to put Ghana under early pressure.

Rather than retreat, the Maidens gradually worked their way back into the contest and were rewarded in the 31st minute when Rafia Osman restored parity.

Ghana then seized the initiative. Four minutes after the equaliser, Gloria Ameaa struck to put the West Africans 2-1 ahead and raise hopes of a significant result against the highly rated Brazilians.

But the advantage proved short-lived. Kaillany Rafinah scored in the 44th minute to bring Brazil level at 2-2 just before the interval, leaving the contest finely poised at half-time.

Brazil resumed with greater purpose and regained the lead in the 57th minute through Indy, forcing Ghana to chase the game once more.

The Maidens pressed for another equaliser as the clock ticked down, refusing to let the deficit end their hopes of taking something from the encounter.

Their persistence paid off in the 85th minute when Mensah found the back of the net to make it 3-3 and rescue a valuable point for Ghana.

The draw leaves Ghana with one point from two matches and at the bottom of Group C, but their qualification hopes remain alive ahead of their final group fixture.

The Black Maidens must now turn their attention to Canada, with the encounter set to be crucial to their chances of reaching the next round.

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