Ghana national football team

The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international football.[4] The team is named the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa in the flag of Ghana.[5] It is governed by the Ghana Football Association, the governing body for football in Ghana. Prior to 1957, it played as the Gold Coast.

Ghana
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Black Stars
AssociationGFA
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationWAFU (West Africa)
Head coachChris Hughton
CaptainAndré Ayew
Most capsAndré Ayew (115)
Top scorerAsamoah Gyan (51)
FIFA codeGHA
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 60 Steady (21 September 2023)[1]
Highest14 (April–May 2007, February 2008)
Lowest89 (June 2004)
First international
 Gold Coast and United Kingdom British Togoland 1–0 Nigeria 
(Accra, British Gold Coast; 28 May 1950)
Biggest win
 Nyasaland 0–12 Gold Coast 
(Nyasaland; 15 October 1962)[2]
Biggest defeat
 Brazil 8–2 Ghana 
(São José do Rio Preto, Brazil; 27 March 1996)[3]
World Cup
Appearances4 (first in 2006)
Best resultQuarter-finals (2010)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances23 (first in 1963)
Best resultChampions (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982)

Ghana qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2006.[6][7] The team has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times (1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982), while finishing as runners-up five times (1968, 1970, 1992, 2010, and 2015). They have also qualified for the CHAN four times, finishing as runners-up twice (2009 and 2014).[8]

History

Members in the 1960s pose with some of Ghana's successive international trophies won.

On 19 August 1962 at the Accra Sports Stadium, hosted Real Madrid, who were at the time Spanish champions, former European champions and intercontinental champions and drew 3–3.[9]

Charles Kumi Gyamfi became coach in 1961, and they won successive African Cup of Nations titles, in 1963 and 1965. The Black Stars achieved their record win, 13–2 away to Kenya, after the second of these. They reached the final of the tournament in 1968 and 1970, losing 1–0 on both occasions, to DR Congo in 1968 and Sudan in 1970. Their domination of the tournament earned them the nickname "the Black Stars of Africa" in the 1960s.[10]

Fortunes changed for the Black Stars however, after they failed to qualify for 3 successive African Cup of Nations in the 1970s.[11] In the early 1980s however, with emerging talents such as Abedi Pele, the Black Stars beat Libya in the 1982 African Cup of Nations final hosted by Libya to win their fourth and to date, last continental title.[12] Fortunes changed again however, as in the 1984 tournament, they were knocked out in the group stages, and did not qualify for the 1986, 1988 and 1990 tournaments. In 1992 however, the Black Stars would come runners-up to the Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout after a goalless draw, which saw every player on the pitch take a penalty, in which they were beaten 11-10.[13] The Black Stars were at a disadvantage however, as African Footballer of the Year winner and the tournament's best player, Abedi Pele, had been suspended for the final.

Prior to the year 2000, tensions among the squad led to the parliamentary and executive to intervene and settle issues between star players Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah. In the 1990s, this may have played some part in the failure of the team to build on the successes of the national underage teams. However, the generation of Black Stars players who went to the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship final became the "core" of the team at the 2002 African Cup of Nations, going undefeated for a year in 2005 and qualifying for the final tournament of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The Black Stars started by succumbing to a 2–0 defeat to eventual champions Italy, and wins over Czech Republic (2–0) and United States (2–1). This saw them advance through to the second round, where they lost 3–0 to Brazil.[14]

Under head coach Milovan Rajevac, the Black Stars went on to secure a 100% win record in their qualification campaign, winning their group and becoming the first African team to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the final tournament, they were placed in Group D with Germany, Serbia and Australia, advancing to the round of 16 where they played the United States, winning 2–1 in extra time to become only the third African nation to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. They then lost to Uruguay in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals, after Uruguayan forward Luis Suárez blocked a header with his hand in the penalty box in extra time and was sent off. Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty given for the handball, with the score remaining at 1-1. Ghana went on to lose the penalty shootout 4-2, not making it to the semi-finals which would have been the first time an African country qualified for the semi-finals of a World Cup.[15]

In 2013, it became the only team in Africa to reach 4 consecutive semi-finals of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations twice, the first time since between 1963 and 1970.[16]

The Black Stars were sufficiently ranked by FIFA to start their qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in the second round. They won their group, and in the following round qualified for the 2014 World Cup finals in November 2013, after beating Egypt 7–3 on aggregate in a 2-legged play-off.[17] They were drawn in Group G for the finals, where they faced Germany, Portugal, and the United States.[18] They exited in the group stages recording 1 draw and 3 losses. However, they were the only team to not lose to Germany in the tournament, drawing 2-2 with the eventual winners.

In the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, they reached the final, to be denied the title on penalties against Ivory Coast. While their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations campaign ended in a 4th place finish - the third one in 4 consecutive editions of the tournament - in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, they finished behind Egypt and Uganda in their final group. At the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, they were eliminated by Tunisia in the Round of 16. In 2021, Manager Rajevac was brought back, but the Black Stars ended up failing to win a match at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations where they lost 2–3 to debutants the Comoros after an André Ayew red card to finish bottom of their group. Thus, they failed to progress beyond the group stage for the first time since 2006.They drew 0–0 in a match against Nigeria and drew 1–1 in Nigeria to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup on away goals.[19]

Culture

Kits and crest

Home shirt: 1970s–1980s

Adopted following the independence of Ghana in 1957, the black star has been included in the Black Stars' kits. The Black Stars' kits were sponsored by Puma SE from 2005, with the deal ending in 2014.[20]

Badge and anthem

Between 1990 and 2006 the Ghana national team used the kit in the colours of the national flag of Ghana, with gold, green and red used, as in the team's crest and also known as the Pan-African colours. The gold with green and red kit concept and design was used in the 60s and 70s, and designed with gold and green vertical stripes and red shoulders. An all black second kit was introduced in 2008 and in 2015, Black Stars' gold-red-green coloured kit and all black coloured kit is to be reassigned to the position of 1st and 2nd kits following the induction of a brown with blue and gold coloured Black Stars 3rd kit in 2012.[21][22]

The team's kit for the 2014 FIFA World Cup was ranked as the best kit of the tournament by BuzzFeed.[23]

Kit supplier Period
Germany Erima1991–1992
Germany Adidas1992–2000
Italy Kappa2000–2005
Germany Puma2005–

Grounds

Lizzy Sports Complex

The training facilities and training grounds are located at Agyeman Badu Stadium, Berekum Sports Stadium in Brong-Ahafo, the Tema Sports Stadium in Tema and the multi-functional Lizzy Sports Complex in Legon.[24]


Organization and finance

The Black Stars had no official head because of "corrupt" practices[25][26][27] by the then president, Kwesi Nyantakyi[28] and vice-president George Afriyie,[29] with Frank Davis as director of football, and Edward Bawa as treasurer.[30] The Ghana Football Association (GFA) signed a CN¥92.2 million (US$15 million) deal with Ghanaian state-run oil and gas exploration corporation, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), to sponsor the Black Stars and the renewable contract saw the oil and gas exploration corporation become the global headline sponsor of the Black Stars, with a yearly Black Stars player salary wage bill,[31][32] following the gold mining corporations Ashanti Goldfields Corporation and Goldfields Ghana Limited (GGL), which had been sponsoring the Black Stars since 2005.[33]

On 28 August 2013, Ghana Football Association (GFA) launched a TV channel and named GFA TV. The channel has the exclusive rights to broadcast all the Black Stars' matches.[34] In November 2013, the Black Stars signed a 2013–2015 CN¥30.6 million (US$5 million) and an additional classified multi-million private bank sponsorship deal with the Ghanaian state-run private banking institution UniBank.[35]

Supporters

Ghana Supporters Union at an AFCON 2015 match between Ghana and Guinea

The Black Stars maintain an average stadium match attendance of 60,000+ and a match attendance high of 80,000+, such as in the case of its 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final against Uruguay which was attended by 84,017 spectators.[36] Ghana's match against England on 29 March 2011 had the largest away following for any association football national team since the re-opening of Wembley Stadium in 2007.[37] The match was watched by 700 million people around the world.[37]

Following the team's appearances at the 2006 and 2010 World Cup tournaments they were greeted by some hundred avid fans dancing and singing at Kotoka International Airport in Accra.[38]

Rivalries

A rivalry is with the Super Eagles, the Nigeria national team. The "Battle of Supremacy on the Gulf of Guinea" is between two of the "most successful teams on the African continent".[39] The proximity of the two countries to each other, a dispute between the different association football competitions and wider diplomatic competition for influence across West Africa add to this rivalry.[39][40] The match between these two countries is called the Jollof derby.[41]

Other rivalries include the rivalry with Egypt and international rivalries with USA as well as Uruguay.

Media and arts

Match schedules are broadcast in English as in the case of inter-continental matches and in Akan nationally by Adom TV, PeaceFM, AdomFM and HappyFM. During the scheduled qualification for the 2014 World Cup national broadcaster GTV, a sub-division of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), broadcast to the Ghanaian public home qualifiers with away qualifiers broadcast by the satellite television broadcasting corporation Viasat 1. The friendly match against Turkey in August 2013 was televised by Viasat 1 and the qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2018 Inter-Continental Championships are scheduled for public broadcast by the corporations GFA TV, GBC and Viasat 1.[42]

Products including books, documentary films, Azonto dances and songs have been made in the name of the team. These may be intended with commercial motives and are focused on previous and future World Cups or Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

  • Books: books have been published on the team's history and participation in tournaments. These include Ghana, The Rediscovered Soccer Might: Watch Out World!,[43] about the history and performance of the Black Stars and association football national teams that the Black Stars have played against, and The Black Stars of Ghana by Alan Whelan;[44] about Black Stars commencing their progress through the final rounds of the 2010 World Cup and into the quarter-finals.
  • Documentary films: In 2010 Miracle Films Ghana Limited showcased a vintage documentary film picture, Kwame Nkrumah & Ghana's Black Stars, about Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah "Africa's man of the 2nd millennium" and "Pan-African pioneer",[45] who invested energy into making Ghana's association football national team – the Black Stars – a force in African soccer.[46]
  • Nickname: The Black Star Line, a shipping industry line incorporated by the founder of the Back-to-Africa movement, civil rights movement leader Marcus Garvey and the organiser of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA) from 1919 to 1922, gives the Ghana team its nicknames, the Black Stars of West Africa and the Black Stars of Africa.[46]
  • Dances: upon the Black Stars scoring against opposition teams, dance forms of the Ghanaian Azonto were performed by Black Stars players in their goal celebrations in match victories at the 2010 World Cup and in 2013, an elite dance version of the Ghanaian Azonto named; "(Akan: Mmonko)" (shrimp), was established and showcased at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations by the Black Stars players.[47] Black Stars goal celebrations in match victories at the 2014 World Cup and upon scoring against opposition teams, are to establish and showcase Alkayida.[48]
  • Songs: On occasions of past World Cups or African Championships, a number of musicians with music producers created hiplife football songs which were composed in the Akan language – the 2006 World Cup song, "Akan: Tuntum Nsorom Ye Ko Yen Anim", (Black Stars, We are moving forward) musical composed by the Musicians Union of Ghana, is to motivate the Black Stars to perform creditably in its quest for the capturing of the World Cup trophy.[49] Black Stars' captain and top-goalscorer Asamoah Gyan recorded and released a Hiplife song with 'Castro The Destroyer', where he features under the alias 'Baby Jet'. The song is entitled "African Girls" and is sung in the Akan language and was launched onto the Ghanaian screens, continental West Africa screens and onto the Sub-Saharan Africa screens. The music video shows the "Asamoah Gyan Dance" goal celebration which he demonstrated at the 2010 World Cup. The song "African Girls" won an award at the Ghana Music Awards in 2011. The 2010 World Cup song, "Ghana Black Stars (Official Song 2010 World Cup)" composed by Ghanaian hiplife music group "Kings and Queens Entertainment" approved by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) as GFA has indicated that the Black Stars are a protected brand.[50]

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2022

17 November Friendly Ghana  2–0   Switzerland Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
14:00 UTC+4
  • Salisu 70'
  • Semenyo 74'
Report Stadium: Zayed Sports City Stadium
Attendance: 650
Referee: Ahmed Issa (United Arab Emirates)
24 November 2022 FIFA World Cup Portugal  3–2  Ghana Doha, Qatar
19:00 UTC+3
Report
Stadium: Stadium 974
Attendance: 42,662
Referee: Ismail Elfath (United States)
28 November 2022 FIFA World Cup South Korea  2–3  Ghana Al Rayyan, Qatar
16:00 UTC+3
Report
Stadium: Education City Stadium
Attendance: 43,983
Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)
2 December 2022 FIFA World Cup Ghana  0–2  Uruguay Al Wakrah, Qatar
18:00 UTC+3 Report
Stadium: Al Janoub Stadium
Attendance: 43,443
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)

2023

7 January Friendly Algeria  0–0  Ghana
23 March 2023 AFCON qualification Ghana  1–0  Angola Kumasi, Ghana
17:00 UTC±0
Report Stadium: Baba Yara Stadium
Referee: Jean Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)
27 March 2023 AFCON qualification Angola  1–1  Ghana Luanda, Angola
17:00 UTC+1
Report
Stadium: Estádio 11 de Novembro
Referee: Mohamed Maarouf (Egypt)
18 June 2023 AFCON qualification Madagascar  0–0  Ghana Antananarivo, Madagascar
17:00 UTC+3 Report Stadium: Mahamasina Municipal Stadium
Referee: Patrice Milazar (Mauritius)
12 September Friendly Ghana  3–1  Liberia Accra, Ghana
16:00 UTC±0
Report
Stadium: Accra Sports Stadium
Referee: Kouassi Attiogbe (Togo)
14 October Friendly Mexico  2–0  Ghana Charlotte, United States
21:00 UTC−4
Report Stadium: Bank of America Stadium
Referee: Joe Dickerson (United States)
17 October Friendly United States  4–0  Ghana Nashville, United States
20:30 UTC−4
Report Stadium: Geodis Park
Referee: Marco Ortiz (Mexico)

Coaches

As of 12 February 2023[51]
Position Name
Head coach Republic of Ireland Chris Hughton
Assistant coach Netherlands George Boateng
Assistant coachGhana Mas-Ud Didi Dramani
Goalkeeping coachGhana Richard Kingson

History

Mali vs Ghana, exhibition game at Paris, 31 March 2015

Since 1957 it has had 32 different head coaches and 3 caretakers. C. K. Gyamfi led the Black Stars to 3 Africa Cup of Nations titles – in 1963, 1965 and 1982 – making Gyamfi the "joint most successful coach" in the competition's history.[52] Fred Osam Duodu led the Black Stars to their 1978 Africa Cup of Nations title;[53] Ratomir Dujković, Milovan Rajevac, and James Kwesi Appiah have led the Black Stars to World Cup qualification.[54][55] 2 Serbian managers guided Ghana to the 2 first World Cup debuts.[56][57][58][59][60][61][62] The team is being headed by Chris Hugton who is the head coach and supported by George Boateng and Mas-Ud Didi Dramani as assistant coaches[63][64][65] of the senior national team, the Black Stars since February 2023.[66][67][68]

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against  Mexico and  United States on 14 and 17 October 2023 respectively.[69]

Caps and goals correct as of 18 June 2023, after the match against  Madagascar.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
16 1GK Lawrence Ati-Zigi (1996-11-29) 29 November 1996 17 0 Switzerland St. Gallen
1 1GK Richard Ofori (1993-11-01) 1 November 1993 24 0 South Africa Orlando Pirates
12 1GK Abdul Nurudeen (1999-02-08) 8 February 1999 2 0 Belgium Eupen

15 2DF Joseph Aidoo (1995-09-29) 29 September 1995 14 0 Spain Celta Vigo
18 2DF Nicholas Opoku (1997-08-11) 11 August 1997 13 1 France Amiens
2 2DF Alidu Seidu (2000-06-04) 4 June 2000 6 0 France Clermont
23 2DF Alexander Djiku (1994-08-09) 9 August 1994 21 1 Turkey Fenerbahçe
14 2DF Gideon Mensah (1998-07-18) 18 July 1998 15 0 France Auxerre
2DF Daniel Amartey (1994-12-21) 21 December 1994 52 0 Turkey Beşiktaş
2DF Tariq Lamptey (2000-09-30) 30 September 2000 4 0 England Brighton & Hove Albion
2DF Abdul Fatawu Hamidu (1999-03-04) 4 March 1999 0 0 Ghana Medeama

20 3MF Mohammed Kudus (2000-08-02) 2 August 2000 24 7 England West Ham United
4 3MF Edmund Addo (2000-05-17) 17 May 2000 10 0 Serbia Red Star Belgrade
21 3MF Salis Abdul Samed (2000-03-26) 26 March 2000 7 0 France Lens
5 3MF Elisha Owusu (1997-11-07) 7 November 1997 3 0 France Auxerre
7 3MF Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer (2001-09-13) 13 September 2001 1 0 Germany Hamburger SV
11 3MF Osman Bukari (1998-12-13) 13 December 1998 12 3 Serbia Red Star Belgrade
3MF Joseph Paintsil (1998-02-01) 1 February 1998 8 0 Belgium Genk
3MF Thomas Partey (1993-06-13) 13 June 1993 45 13 England Arsenal

19 4FW Iñaki Williams (1994-06-15) 15 June 1994 8 0 Spain Athletic Bilbao
9 4FW Jordan Ayew (1991-09-11) 11 September 1991 90 19 England Crystal Palace
13 4FW Ernest Nuamah (2003-11-01) 1 November 2003 1 0 France Lyon
22 4FW Antoine Semenyo (2000-01-07) 7 January 2000 8 2 England Bournemouth

Recent call-ups

The following had been called up in 12 months preceding the above draft.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Joe Wollacott (1996-09-08) 8 September 1996 11 0 England Charlton Athletic v.  Madagascar, 18 June 2023
GK Ibrahim Danlad (2002-12-02) 2 December 2002 4 0 Ghana Asante Kotoko 2022 FIFA World Cup

DF Kingsley Schindler (1993-07-12) 12 July 1993 1 0 Turkey Samsunspor v.  Liberia, 12 September 2023
DF Stephan Ambrosius (1998-12-18) 18 December 1998 0 0 Germany Karlsruher SC v.  Liberia, 12 September 2023
DF Baba Rahman (1994-07-02) 2 July 1994 51 1 Greece PAOK v.  Central African Republic, 5 September 2023
DF Kasim Adams (1995-06-22) 22 June 1995 12 1 Germany 1899 Hoffenheim v.  Madagascar, 18 June 2023
DF Mohammed Salisu (1999-04-17) 17 April 1999 6 2 Monaco Monaco v.  Angola, 27 March 2023
DF Jonathan Mensah (1990-07-13) 13 July 1990 69 1 United States San Jose Earthquakes 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
DF Andy Yiadom (1991-12-02) 2 December 1991 26 0 England Reading 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
DF Ibrahim Imoro (1999-10-02) 2 October 1999 5 0 Sudan Al-Hilal Omdurman 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
DF Dennis Nkrumah-Korsah (1996-02-25) 25 February 1996 4 0 Ghana Hearts of Oak 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
DF Abdul Mumin (1998-06-06) 6 June 1998 0 0 Spain Rayo Vallecano 2022 FIFA World CupPRE

MF Iddrisu Baba (1996-01-22) 22 January 1996 18 0 Spain Almería v.  Liberia, 12 September 2023
MF André Ayew (captain) (1989-12-17) 17 December 1989 114 24 Unattached v.  Liberia, 12 September 2023
MF Majeed Ashimeru (1997-10-10) 10 October 1997 2 0 Belgium Anderlecht v.  Central African Republic, 5 September 2023
MF Daniel-Kofi Kyereh (1996-03-08) 8 March 1996 18 0 Germany SC Freiburg 2022 FIFA World Cup
MF Daniel Afriyie (2001-06-26) 26 June 2001 7 3 Switzerland Zürich 2022 FIFA World Cup
MF Mubarak Wakaso (1990-07-25) 25 July 1990 70 13 Belgium Eupen 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
MF Jeffrey Schlupp (1992-12-23) 23 December 1992 20 1 England Crystal Palace 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
MF Salifu Mudasiru (1997-04-01) 1 April 1997 0 0 Saudi Arabia Al-Bukiryah 2022 FIFA World CupPRE

FW Jonathan Sowah (2000-01-09) 9 January 2000 1 0 Ghana Medeama v.  Liberia, 12 September 2023
FW Kwasi Wriedt (1994-07-10) 10 July 1994 6 0 Germany VfL Osnabrück v.  Central African Republic, 5 September 2023
FW Kamaldeen Sulemana (2002-02-15) 15 February 2002 18 0 England Southampton v.  Madagascar, 18 June 2023
FW Hafiz Konkoni (1999-12-27) 27 December 1999 0 0 Tanzania Young Africans v.  Madagascar, 18 June 2023
FW Kamal Sowah (2000-01-09) 9 January 2000 1 0 Belgium Standard Liège 2022 FIFA World Cup
FW Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (2004-03-08) 8 March 2004 14 1 England Leicester City 2022 FIFA World Cup
FW Richmond Boakye (1993-01-28) 28 January 1993 19 7 Malaysia Selangor 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
FW Samuel Owusu (1996-03-28) 28 March 1996 17 1 Serbia Čukarički 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
FW Caleb Ekuban (1994-03-23) 23 March 1994 13 3 Italy Genoa 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
FW Felix Afena-Gyan (2003-01-19) 19 January 2003 6 1 Italy Cremonese 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
FW Yaw Yeboah (1997-03-28) 28 March 1997 4 0 United States Columbus Crew 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
FW Christopher Antwi-Adjei (1994-02-07) 7 February 1994 3 0 Germany VfL Bochum 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
FW Emmanuel Gyasi (1994-01-11) 11 January 1994 3 0 Italy Empoli 2022 FIFA World CupPRE
FW Mohammed Dauda (1998-02-20) 20 February 1998 0 0 Spain Tenerife 2022 FIFA World CupPRE

Notes
  • CNC Cancelled match.
  • WD Withdrew.
  • INJ Withdrew because of injury.
  • PRE Preliminary squad.
  • RET Retired from international soccer.
  • SUS Suspended from the team.

Local team

The football association of Ghana (GFA) administers national teams at different levels, including 1 for the local national team. The team is restricted to players who only play in the local league, thus the Ghana Premier League. It is nicknamed Local Black Stars.[70][71][72]

Records

As of 12 September 2023[73]
Players in bold are still active with Ghana.

Most appearances

André Ayew is Ghana's most capped player with 115 appearances.
Rank Player Caps Goals Career
1André Ayew115242007–present
2Asamoah Gyan109512003–2019
3Jordan Ayew94202010–present
4Richard Kingson9311996–2011
5John Paintsil9102001–2013
6Harrison Afful8602008–2018
7Sulley Muntari84202002–2014
8John Mensah8132001–2012
9Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu78112008–2017
10Kwadwo Asamoah7442008–2019

Top goalscorers

Asamoah Gyan is Ghana's top goalscorer with 51 goals.
Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1Asamoah Gyan511090.472003–2019
2Edward Acquah45411.11956–1964
3Kwasi Owusu36450.81968–1976
4Tony Yeboah29590.491985–1997
5Karim Abdul Razak25620.41975–1988
6André Ayew241140.212007–present
7Wilberforce Mfum20260.771960–1968
Sulley Muntari20840.242002–2014
Jordan Ayew20940.212010–present
10Osei Kofi19250.761964–1973
Abedi Pele19730.261982–1998

Captains

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

At the 2006 World Cup and vs. Uruguay in the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final match at Soccer City, Johannesburg on 2 July 2010

Ghana have qualified for 4 FIFA World Cup tournaments; 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2022. In 2006, it was the only African side to advance to the second round of the World Cup in Germany, and was the 6th nation in a row from Africa to progress beyond the group stages of the World Cup.[82] It had the youngest team in the 2006 edition with an average age of 23 years and 352 days,[82] and were praised for their improving performance.[83][84] FIFA ranked it 13th out of the 32 countries who competed in the tournament.[85]

In the 2010 World Cup, it progressed beyond the group stages of the World Cup in South Africa, and reached the quarter-finals where it was eliminated by Uruguay. It was defeated on penalty shootout after Luis Suárez hand-balled on the goal line into extra time, preventing a possible winning goal.[86] Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2010 edition, FIFA ranked it 7th.[87]

After beating Egypt 7–3 on aggregate in November 2013, it qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.[88] It was drawn in Group G with Germany, United States and Portugal.[89] For the first time, it fell in the group stage, tying Germany 2–2 and losing to the United States and Portugal by 2–1.[90]

Round Pld W D L GF GA GD
World Cup Finals155371823−5
World Cup Quals (H)3424827819+59
World Cup Quals (A)3398163742−5
Total8238192513384+49
Final Qualification
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA Campaign
Chile 1962 Did not qualify 2 1 1 0 2 0 1962
England 1966 Withdrew Withdrew
Mexico 1970
West Germany 1974 Did not qualify 6 3 1 1 14 5 1974
Argentina 1978 3 1 0 2 3 5 1978
Spain 1982 Withdrew Withdrew
Mexico 1986
Italy 1990 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 0 2 1990
United States 1994 4 2 0 2 4 3 1994
France 1998 8 2 4 2 9 8 1998
South Korea Japan 2002 12 4 3 4 10 11 2002
Germany 2006 Round of 16 13th 4 2 0 2 4 6 Squad 12 8 3 1 24 4 2006
South Africa 2010 Quarter-finals 7th 5 2 2 1 5 4 Squad 12 8 1 3 20 8 2010
Brazil 2014 Group stage 25th 3 0 1 2 4 6 Squad 8 6 0 2 25 6 2014
Russia 2018 Did not qualify 8 2 5 1 9 5 2018
Qatar 2022 Group stage 24th 3 1 0 2 5 7 Squad 8 4 3 1 8 4 2022
Canada Mexico United States 2026
Total 15 5 3 7 18 23 85 41 22 20 128 61

Africa Cup of Nations

The Black stars of Ghana has won the Africa Cup of Nations 4 times – in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982 – bettered by Cameroon and Egypt. As the first winner of 3 AFCON tournaments, Ghana obtained the right to permanently hold the trophy in 1978.[91]

AFCON 2015 match with Guinea
Final
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
United Arab Republic 1959Not affiliated to CAF
Ethiopia 1962Did not qualify
Ghana 1963Champions1st321061
Tunisia 1965Champions1st3300125
Ethiopia 1968Second place2nd5311118
Sudan 1970Second place2nd522164
Cameroon 1972Did not qualify
Egypt 1974
Ethiopia 1976
Ghana 1978Champions1st541092
Nigeria 1980Group stage5th311111
Libya 1982Champions1st523075
Ivory Coast 1984Group stage6th310224
Egypt 1986Did not qualify
Morocco 1988
Algeria 1990
Senegal 1992Runners-up2nd541062
Tunisia 1994Quarter-finals5th320132
South Africa 19964th place4th640275
Burkina Faso 1998Group stage11th310233
Ghana Nigeria 2000Quarter-finals8th411234
Mali 2002Quarter-finals7th412122
Tunisia 2004Did not qualify
Egypt 2006Group stage10th310223
Ghana 2008Third place3rd6501115
Angola 2010Runners-up2nd530244
GabonEquatorial Guinea 20124th place4th631265
South Africa 20134th place4th6321106
Equatorial Guinea 2015Runners-up2nd6411103
Gabon 20174th place4th630345
Egypt 2019Round of 1612th413053
Cameroon 2021Group stage19th301235
Ivory Coast 2023Qualified
Morocco 2025To be determined
Total10254212713387
*Denotes place was determined via penalty shoot-out.

West African Nations Cup and WAFU Nations Cup

Olympic Games

Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
United Kingdom London 1908 Did not participate
Sweden Stockholm 1912
Belgium Antwerp 1920
France Paris 1924
Netherlands Amsterdam 1928
Nazi Germany Berlin 1936
United Kingdom London 1948
Finland Helsinki 1952 [a]
Australia Melbourne 1956
Italy Rome 1960 Did not qualify
Japan Tokyo 1964 Quarter-final 7th4112712
Mexico Mexico 1968 Round 1 12th302168
West Germany Munich 1972 Round 1 16th3003111
Canada Montreal 1976 Withdrew after qualifying
Soviet Union Moscow 1980
United States Los Angeles 1984 Did not qualify
South Korea Seoul 1988
Total101361431
a. Note: The Gold Coast team established in 1950; country known as Gold Coast then renamed Ghana in 1957, not competing in international tournaments and not being part of neither FIFA nor CAF until 1958, and therefore recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Other

Winners: 1959, 1960, 1963
Winners: 1962
Runners up: 1982
  • Samuel K. Doe Cup 1986[95]
Runners up: 1986
  • Black Stars Tournament 1993 (Libreville, Gabon)[96]
Third: 1993
  • Great Artificial River Championship 1999 (Libya)[97]
Runners up: 1999
Third: 2003

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