An image of a giraffe ‘representing Ghana’ alongside New York’s Statue of Liberty has sparked controversy online.

After the US football team beat Ghana 2-1 in a FIFA world cup game on Monday night, global airline Delta posted an image on social media that it would later apologise for.

“Last night [Monday night], we posted a congratulatory message on Twitter and Facebook to the US Soccer team on its win in a World Cup game,” said the American airline in a statement on Tuesday.

“The message used an image of a giraffe to represent Ghana. The image was both inaccurate and inappropriate,” added the company.

The image was inaccurate because giraffes are not commonly found in Ghana but rather in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Meanwhile, the image has also been deemed by social media users on Twitter to be inappropriate owing to it possibly stereotyping Africa.

Tweeters across the globe have since levelled criticism against Delta airlines for the mistake.

But the airline has said sorry and notes it is reviewing its social media policies.

“As a global airline, we understand the role images play in shaping global perceptions. We also recognise our responsibility to create messages that are both accurate and inclusive. We take this responsibility seriously,” said Delta in its statement.

“Yesterday [on Monday], we failed to meet this responsibility. For this, we sincerely apologise.

“We have removed the image and are reviewing our processes to ensure that future images and posts reflect both our values and our global focus,” said Delta.