Ghana 5-0 Gabon: Starlets humiliate hosts to book World Cup ticket

A five-star performance saw Ghana annihilate hosts Gabon 5-0 at the 2017 Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations on Wednesday.

In their second group game following Sunday's 4-0 triumph over Cameroon, skipper Eric Ayiah and Emmanuel Toku each netted twice while substitute Patmos Arhin added the last at Stade de Port-Gentil.

Ghana, by the win, sealed a place in the semi-finals ahead of their last group game against Guinea on Saturday.

Again, the last four berth has earned the Black Starlets a ticket to the Under-17 World Cup slated for India in October. It will be the two-time champions' return to the global fiesta since finishing fourth in South Korea in 2007.

After a nervous start to the game, Ghana opened the scoring from the spot kick in the 29th minute. Captain Eric Ayiah, who was brought down by Franck Nze Nsome Amvame, confidently converted to take his tournament goal tally to three.

Amvame was again at fault for Ghana's second goal as his attempted clearance put Toku through and the Cheetah FC attacker made no mistake with his finish.

But it wasn't over yet for Amvame.

In the 58th minutes, a miscommunication between the centre-back and goalkeeper Brunel Ilagou Ilagou allowed Ayiah space to slot home the third goal of the night and his personal fourth of the tournament.

Toku then added Ghana's fourth goal eight minutes later before Patmos Arhin sealed the win with a hit into an empty net after yet another miscommunication between goalkeeper Ilagou and his defence.

Cameroon and Guinea settled for a 1-1 stalemate in the other group game.