Manchester City forward Antoine Semenyo will be one of the key players for the Black Stars of Ghana at the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Image: AFP
Coach: Carlos Queiroz
Captain: Jordan Ayew
Player to watch: Antoine Semenyo
All-time top scorer: Asamoah Gyan (51 goals)
Highest ranking: 13th (following the 2006 FIFA World Cup)
Lowest ranking: 89th (2024)
Current world ranking: 74th
FIFA World Cup appearances: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022, 2026
FIFA World Cup best finish: Quarter-finals (2010)
Ghana are the lowest-ranked African nation in the upcoming World Cup, and deservedly so considering they have lost their last five friendlies. Admittedly, these defeats came against top footballing nations such as Germany, Mexico, and Japan, with South Korea and Austria compounding their woes.
Group L.
Image: GraphicNews
However, world rankings are far from crystal balls; at least four African nations ranked above Ghana failed to punch their tickets to the global showpiece. Among those missing out are giants of African football Cameroon and Nigeria, with Mali and Burkina Faso completing the list.
It is interesting to note that during their first World Cup appearance, at Germany 2006, Ghana were the only African side to advance beyond the group stage.
What made that feat even more glorious was the fact that they achieved it with the tournament’s youngest squad, which featured stars such as Asamoah Gyan (20), Michael Essien (23), Sulley Muntari (21), John Paintsil (24), and a 29-year-old Samuel Kuffour.
The record books state that the squad’s average age for that tournament was 23-years and 362- days old. When they exited the tournament, they were ranked 13th by FIFA.
In the following World Cup, at South Africa 2010, they were determined to take things a step further — and they did. Dubbed by locals as BaGhana BaGhana, the Black Stars went on to reach the quarter-finals, where they were controversially eliminated by Luis Suárez’s Uruguay.
It seems they perform better when they have adversity to overcome, and 20 years on, in 2026, they might just be the surprise package yet again. Even though they do not appear to be in their best shape, their Group L opponents — England, Croatia, and Panama — will underestimate the West Africans at their own peril.
After all, they may well become South Africans' second-favourite team, considering that a South African coach, Roger de Sa, is Carlos Queiroz’s assistant. However, with Kudus — the Black Stars’ star of the 2022 World Cup — out due to a calf injury, things will be tricky.
Ghana will rely on the likes of Antoine Semenyo and Iñaki Williams to find a way through Group L and chase a historic finish for Africa.