Friday, November 15, 2024 - 01:13:46 AM

It is the Ghana National Football Team is the representative of Ghana in international football for men and has been doing this in the past since 1950. The team comprises twenty players that include technicians. The team is referred to as the Black Stars in honor of their nickname, the Black Star of Africa in the flag of Ghana. It is run by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) the governing body of soccer in Ghana and is the oldest club in Africa (founded around 1920). Before 1957, Ghana Football Association was known under the name of Gold Coast. They are a part in the two organizations, FIFA as well as CAF.

While the team was not able to participate in an invitation to the Senior FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2006, they qualified for four Olympic Football Tournaments at a time when the qualifiers were still a full national championship for senior African teams. Their greatest accomplishment was a third place finish in the 1992 Summer Olympics. Ghana has won at least the Africa Cup of Nations four times (in 1963 in 1963, 1965, 1978 as well as 1982) and finished runners-up five times (in 1968 1990, 1970, 1992 in 2010, and in the year 2015). After a year of unbeaten play, the Ghana national football team was awarded the FIFA World Cup Best Mover in the of the Year Award and advanced to the finals of the 2006. FIFA World Cup. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, they became only the third African team to make it to the World Cup quarter-finals, and the 2014 World Cup was the third time in succession at World Cup.

1.1. 20th century

The Gold Coast Football Association was established in 1920 and was later replaced by Ghana Football Association (GFA) in 1957. It was became a member of the Confederation of African Football and FIFA the following year.

On the 19th August 1962, on the 19th of August 1962 at Accra Sports Stadium. Accra Sports Stadium The Black Stars played Spanish giants Real Madrid, who were at the time Spanish champions, and former European champions, and champions of the intercontinental championships with a 3-3 draw.

Charles Kumi Gyamfi became coach in 1961. The Black Stars won successive African Cup of Nations titles in 1963 and 1965 and then won the record for their team 13-2 in the final against Kenya just after the second. They also made it to the final of the competition in 1968 and in 1970 and lost 1-0 on both occasion against DR Congo and Sudan respectively. Their dominance in this tournament brought them the Black Stars team the nicknames of "the Black Stars of West Africa" and "the Black Stars of Africa" in the 1960s.

The team was unsuccessful with FIFA World Cup qualification during the time, and was unable to make it to three consecutive African Cup of Nations in the 1970s. However, it was able to participate in qualifying for the Olympic Games football tournaments, becoming the first sub-Saharan African team in Africa to be able to participate in the Games and reach the quarter-finals in 1964 , before withdrawing following qualifying in 1976 and in 1980 after which they won the 1982 African cup of nations in 1982. After three unsuccessful attempts to make the final of the tournament The 1992 African Cup of Nations saw the Black Stars finish second.

1.2. 21st century: rise to prominence and decline

Prior to 2000, there was discord within the players that eventually led to parliamentary as well as executive intervention to settle disputes between two members of the squad, Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah in the latter part of the 1990s, could be a factor in the squad's inability to replicate the success of the national teams for underage players in the latter part of the 1990s, but a new group comprised of Black Stars players who went to the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship final were the mainstay of the team in the 2002 African Cup of Nations, and they were undefeated for the entire year in 2005, and made it to the semifinals at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the first time that the team reached the international stage of the competition. They Black Stars started by succumbing to a 2-0 loss to the eventual champions Italy and then victories against Italy (2-0) and the Czech Republic (2-0) and the United States (2-1) saw them through to the second round which they lost the match 3-0 to Brazil.

The year 2008 saw Ghana was able to achieve a score of 14 on the FIFA Men's World Ranking. Under the direction of head coach Milovan Rajevac the Black Stars went on to attain a 100% record during their qualifying campaign by winning the group and being the very first African team to be selected for 2010's FIFA World Cup. The final game of the tournament was played in Ghana. the team played in Group D along with Germany, Serbia and Australia. Ghana got to in the 16th round, where they faced with the United States, winning 2-1 in extra time, becoming the 3rd African nation to make it to the World Cup quarter-finals. Ghana then fell to Uruguay through a penalty shootout during the quarterfinals in the quarter-finals, after they missed the penalty kick in extra time. What would be the goal to take Ghana into the semifinals was stopped by the deliberate handball of Luis Suarez which was then rewarded with the yellow card due to the actions of his.

In 2013, Ghana became the first team in Africa that has reached four semi-finals in a row of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations twice, in 1963 and 1970 , as well as between 2008 and 2013.

Ghana was highly ranked by FIFA to begin their qualification for World Cup in 2014. World Cup in the Second round. They were crowned the winners of their group and then in the next round they qualified to play in the 2014 World Cup finals in November 2013 when they beat Egypt 7-3, resulting in a play-off that was two legs. Ghana was a part of the group G to play in the World Cup finals in which they were to play Germany, Portugal, and the United States. It was the World Cup finals ended up disappointed due to the fact that Ghana was eliminated during the group stage, without winning a game and issues with poor planning and payments bonuses as the primary reason for their ineffective performance (although they managed to draw an 2-2 draw against the eventual winners Germany). Ghana had the distinction of being the only nation not to lose to Germany during the tournament.

Following this year's World Cup, Ghana slowly began to slowly enter a phase of decline. The last section of their glorious time was written in their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, in which they Black Stars handily reached the final again but were unable to claim the trophy due to penalties against Ivory Coast. In 2017, their Africa Cup of Nations campaign concluded with a fourth-place finish - the third time in the four previous editions of the tournament they were unable to make an impression in qualifying in the qualifiers for 2018's World Cup, finishing behind Egypt and Uganda in their final group. In the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in the United States, the Black Stars once again couldn't recreate their winning ways and were defeated from the tournament by Tunisia at the end of the 16th round. The following year, Rajevac returned in the hope of bringing back Ghana's glory of the past however, the team sank to an all-time low in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, in which they failed to beat a single game and fell to newcomers the Comoros after receiving an Andre Ayew red-card to be at the bottom of their group, and fail to advance past the stage of group play for the first time since 2006.

In spite of having the Africa Cup of Nations being unsuccessful, Ghana drew 0-0 vs Nigeria and then drew 1-1 against Nigeria to be eligible to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup on the away goals rule.

2. Team image

As per detail below.

2.1. Kits and crest

The black star is visible in the Flag of Ghana and national coat of arms that is located in the center of the national emblem. It was adopted after the nation's independence in Ghana in 1957 the black star was always featured in the kit. They Black Stars' kits were sponsored by Puma SE starting in 2005 until expiring in 2014.

This Black Star kit is used in lieu of the gold red, green and green colored football kit, that is based on the colors that are used on Ghana. Ghana nation's flag. It is believed that the Black Stars have used an mostly black and all white football kit that was used from 1957 until 1989, and then again from 2006 to December 2014.

From 1990 to 2006, the Ghana national team of three utilized the kit that reflected the colors of the flag of Ghana which included red, green, and gold frequently used, for example for the team's logo, and often referred to as the Pan-African colors. The gold-green and red kit design and concept was also utilized throughout the sixties, seventies featuring vertical stripes of green and gold with red shoulders. A second kit that was all black was launched in 2008 and the 2015 model was introduced. Black Stars' gold-red-green kit, as well as all black kits will be moved to the positions of kits 1 and 2 following the introduction of a brown kit with blue and gold-coloured Black Stars 3rd kit in 2012.

The Ghana national football team's soccer jersey for the 2014 FIFA World Cup was ranked as the top kit during the event by BuzzFeed.

2.1.1. Kit suppliers

Kit supplier Period
Germany Erima 1991–1992
Germany Adidas 1992–2000
Italy Kappa 2000–2005
Germany Puma 2005–present
 

2.2. Grounds and training grounds

There is no set venue for home games of Black Stars. Black Stars. World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches were played at the Sekondi Takoradi Stadium in Takoradi as well as at the Len Clay Stadium, Kumasi Sports Stadium and the Abrankese Stadium, both in Kumasi as well as Kumasi Sports Stadium, the Cape Coast Sports Stadium in Cape Coast, the Accra Sports Stadium in Accra in Ghana, and also The Tamale Stadium in Tamale. A few smaller regional stadiums (stadiums) have also been utilized during the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying and the 2004 African Cup of Nations qualification qualifying campaigns.

The Black Stars' training facilities and training facilities are located on Agyeman Badu Stadium Berekum Sports Stadium located in the Brong-Ahafo region. Tema Sports Stadium in Tema and the multi-functional Lizzy Sports Complex in Legon.

2.3. Media coverage

A majority of Ghanaian people speak Akan while around 21 percent speak English. the schedules for matches that are broadcast by The Black Stars are broadcast both in English as for inter-continental games, as well as in Akan national broadcasts by Adom TV, PeaceFM, AdomFM and HappyFM. The scheduled qualification in 2014, the World Cup national broadcaster GTV, a sub-division within GBC, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) broadcasts to Ghanaian qualifying public at home, with away qualifiers being broadcast by the satellite television broadcasting company Viasat 1. The friendly game against Turkey on August 13, 2013 was telecast through Viasat 1 and the qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2018 Inter-Continental Championships are scheduled for broadcast to the public by the companies GFA TV, GBC and Viasat 1.

2.4. Organization and finance

The Black Stars as it stands currently has no head official due to corrupt practices of the president of the time, Kwesi Nyantakyi. And vice-president George Agfriyie, along with Frank Davis as director of football as well as Edward Bawa as treasurer. And vice president George Afriyie. Ghana Football Association (GFA) announced an CNY=92.2 million (US$15 million) agreement with Ghanaian state-owned petroleum and exploration firm, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) which sponsors Ghana's Black Stars and the renewable contract was signed in which the exploration company becoming the principal patron for the Black Stars, with a annually Black Stars player salary wage bill that follows the gold mining companies Ashanti Goldfields Corporation and Goldfields Ghana Limited (GGL), who had sponsored and promoting the Black Stars since 2005.

On August 28, 2013 Ghana Football Association (GFA) created a TV channel, which was called it GFA TV, thus becoming the first football club in the African continent to create its own TV channel. GFA TV is the only channel with exclusive rights to broadcast all Black Stars' matches. In November 2013 The Black Stars signed a 2013-2015 CNY=30.6 million (US$5 million) and a further secured multi-million bank sponsoring agreement with UniBank, the Ghanaian public-owned private bank UniBank.

2.5. Supporters

It is estimated that the Black Stars maintain an average stadium attendance of 60,000 , and an attendance record of over 80,000, like when it was the case with their Black Stars' 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final game against Uruguay that was watched by 84,017 fans. Ghana's game against England on the 29th of March in 2011 was the most watched away match for any national association football team since the reopening the doors of Wembley Stadium in 2007. The game was watched by 700 million viewers all over the world.

After the team's appearances in both the 2006 and 2010 World Cup tournaments they were received by hundreds of enthusiastic fans who were dancing and singing during the Kotoka International Airport in Accra.

2.6. Rivalries

There is a rivalry between the Black Stars' main footballing rivalry is with the Super Eagles, the national team from Nigeria. This "Battle of Supremacy in the Gulf of Guinea" is among two teams that have the highest success on the African continent. Due to the proximity of these two nations to one another as well as a disagreement between various association football tournaments, and a greater diplomatic battle for control across West Africa add to this rivalry. The game between the two nations is referred to as the Jollof derby.

2.7. In books and popular culture

Books, documentaries, film, Azonto dances and songs were created in the name of Ghana national team of football. They may have commercial purposes, but they focus on the past or upcoming World Cups or Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

  • Books: Many books have been released on the history of the Black Stars and their the participation at major competitions. They include Ghana, The Rediscovered Soccer Might and Take a Look Out World!, about the history and achievements of Black Stars and also all the significant national associations football teams the Black Stars have ever played against, as well as the book The Black Stars of Ghana by Alan Whelan; about Black Stars starting their journey into the final stages at the 2011 World Cup and into the quarter-finals.
  • Documentary films: In the year 2010 Miracle Films Ghana Limited showcased the first documentary film of the 20th century, Kwame Nkrumah & Ghana's Black Stars, about Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah "Africa's man of the 2nd millennium" and "Pan-African pioneer" who poured much of his energy in the creation of Ghana's association football national team known as known as the Black Stars - a force in African football.
  • Nickname"The Black Star Line, a shipping industry line founded by the man who founded the Back-to-Africa movement and civil rights and leader Marcus Garvey and the organiser of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA) from 1919 until 1922. gave the Ghana national team national football their nicknames: the Black Stars of West Africa and the Black Stars of Africa.
  • Dances: In the event of scoring by the Black Stars scoring against opposition teams, dance styles of the internationally renowned Ghanaian Azonto were performed by Black Stars players in their goal celebrations after winning matches during the 2010 World Cup and in 2013 an elite form of Ghanaian Azonto named; "(Akan: Mmonko)" (shrimp) was developed and was showcased at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations by the Black Stars players. Black Stars goal celebrations in victory games during the 2014 World Cup and upon scoring against teams from the opposition, aim to promote and highlight Alkayida.
  • Songs: During the time that have occurred in the past World Cups or African Championships there were a few Ghanaian musicians along with music producers composed hiplife football songs that were written using the Akan language. For instance, the song from the 2006 World Cup song, "Akan: Tuntum Nsorom Ye Ko Yen"Anim", (Black Stars, We are moving forward) music written by the Musicians Union of Ghana, is designed to inspire to encourage the Black Stars to perform creditably in their bid for victory in the World Cup trophy. Black Stars' captain and the top goalscorer Asamoah Gyan released the Hiplife track titled 'Castro the Destroyer'. In the song, the singer is known as Baby Jet. The song's title is "African Girls" and is performed with the Akan language. It was released onto Ghanaian screens, the continental West Africa screens and onto screens in the Sub-Saharan Africa screens. The music video features the well-known "Asamoah Gyan Dance" goal celebration that was performed by him at the 2009 World Cup and in the Premier League. The track "African Girls" was awarded an award during the Ghana Music Awards in 2011. In 2010, the World Cup song, "Ghana Black Stars (Official Song 2010 World Cup)" composed by Ghanaian hiplife group "Kings as well as Queens Entertainment" is endorsed from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) as the GFA has confirmed they believe they are a protected brand. Black Stars are a protected brand.

3. Results and fixtures

Below is a list of the results of the matches played over the last 12 months in addition to any future games that are scheduled.

3.1. 2021

 

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 9 October  Ghana 3-1  Zimbabwe Cape Coast, Ghana
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 12 October  Zimbabwe 0-1  Ghana Harare, Zimbabwe
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 October  Ethiopia 1-1  Ghana Johannesburg, South Africa
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 14 October  Ghana 1-0  South Africa Cape Coast, Ghana

3.2. 2022

Friendly 5 January  Algeria  3-0  Ghana Al Rayyan, Qatar
2021 AFCON 10 January   Morocco 1-0  Ghana Yaoundé, Cameroon
2021 AFCON 14 January  Gabon 1-1  Ghana Yaoundé, Cameroon
2021 AFCON 18 January  Ghana 2-3  Comoros Garoua, Cameroon
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 1st Leg 25 March  Ghana 0-0  Nigeria Kumasi, Ghana
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 1st Leg 29 March  Nigeria 1-1  Ghana Abuja, Nigeria
2023 AFCON qualification 1 June  Ghana 3-0  Madagascar Cape Coast, Ghana
2023 AFCON qualification 5 June  Central African Republic  1-1  Ghana Luanda, Angola
2022 Kirin Cup Soccer 10 June  Japan 4-1  Ghana Kobe, Japan
2022 Kirin Cup Soccer 14 June  Chile 0-0  Ghana Osaka, Japan
Friendly 23 August  Qatar 2-1  Ghana Vienna, Austria
Friendly 23 September  Brazil 3-0  Ghana Le Havre, France
Friendly 27 September  Nicaragua 0-1  Ghana Lorca, Spain
Friendly 17 November  Switzerland v  Ghana Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
2022 FIFA World Cup 24 November  Portugal v  Ghana Doha, Qatar
2022 FIFA World Cup 28 November  South Korea v  Ghana Al Rayyan, Qatar
2022 FIFA World Cup 2 December  Ghana v  Uruguay Al Rayyan, Qatar

3.3. 2023

2023 AFCON qualification March  Ghana v  Angola Ghana
2023 AFCON qualification March  Angola v  Ghana Angola
2023 AFCON qualification September  Madagascar v  Ghana Madagascar
2023 AFCON qualification September  Ghana v  Central African Republic Ghana

4. Coaching staff

Head coach Ghana Otto Addo
Technical Advisor Republic of Ireland Chris Hughton
Assistant coach Netherlands Ghana George Boateng
Assistant coach Ghana Mas-Ud Didi Dramani
Goalkeeping coach Ghana Richard Kingson

4.1. Coaching history

Since 1957, Ghana has seen 32 head coaches, and three caretakers. C. K. Gyamfi is the most successful of them all who led his team of Black Stars to three Africa Cup of Nations championships in 1963 in 1965, and 1982 - giving Gyamfi the second-highest-performing coach in the history of the tournament. Fred Osam Duodu led the Black Stars to their 1978 Africa Cup of Nations title; Ratomir Dujkovic, Milovan Rajevac as well as James Kwesi Appiah, have all guided their respective Black Stars to World Cup qualifying. Serbian coaches have proven to be among the best foreign coach in Ghana in the past, and two managers each leading Ghana to two World Cup debuts. At present, the Ghanaian national team is under the direction of Otto Addo who is the coach in charge and is assisted by Chris Hughton, George Boateng and Mas-Ud Didi Diamantua as head coaches for the national senior squad, known as the Black Stars until the end in December 2022.

5. Players

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

5.1. Current squad

  • A number of players from the following were summoned up for the friendly game.
  • Dates of matches: between 23 and 27, September 20, 2022.
  • Opinion:  Brazil and  Nicaragua
  • No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
    1 GK Richard Ofori 1 November 1993 (age 28) 24 0 South Africa Orlando Pirates
    12 GK Abdul Manaf Nurudeen 8 February 1999 (age 23) 2 0 Belgium Eupen
    16 GK Joe Wollacott 8 September 1996 (age 26) 11 0 England Charlton Athletic

    2 DF Tariq Lamptey 30 September 2000 (age 22) 1 0 England Brighton & Hove Albion
    3 DF Denis Odoi 27 May 1988 (age 34) 4 0 Belgium Club Brugge
    4 DF Mohammed Salisu 17 April 1999 (age 23) 1 0 England Southampton
    14 DF Gideon Mensah 18 July 1998 (age 24) 10 0 France Bordeaux
    15 DF Joseph Aidoo 29 September 1995 (age 27) 10 0 Spain Celta de Vigo
    17 DF Abdul Rahman Baba 2 July 1994 (age 28) 47 1 England Reading
    18 DF Daniel Amartey 1 December 1994 (age 27) 43 0 England Leicester City
    23 DF Alexander Djiku 9 August 1994 (age 28) 18 1 France Strasbourg
    26 DF Alidu Seidu 25 February 1996 (age 26) 2 0 France Clermont
      DF Stephan Ambrosius 18 December 1998 (age 23) 0 0 Germany Karlsruher SC

    5 MF Thomas Partey 13 June 1993 (age 29) 40 14 England Arsenal
    6 MF Elisha Owusu 7 November 1997 (age 24) 2 0 Belgium Gent
    8 MF Daniel-Kofi Kyereh 8 March 1996 (age 26) 12 0 Germany Freiburg
    10 MF André Ayew 17 December 1989 (age 32) 107 23 Qatar Al-Sadd
    20 MF Mohammed Kudus 2 August 2000 (age 22) 16 4 Netherlands Ajax
    21 MF Iddrisu Baba 22 January 1996 (age 26) 18 0 Spain Mallorca

    7 FW Abdul Fatawu Issahaku 8 March 2004 (age 18) 11 0 Portugal Sporting
    9 FW Jordan Ayew 11 September 1991 (age 31) 82 20 England Crystal Palace
    11 FW Osman Bukari 13 December 1998 (age 23) 5 1 Serbia Red Star Belgrade
    13 FW Felix Afena-Gyan 19 January 2003 (age 19) 6 1 Italy Cremonese
    19 FW Iñaki Williams 15 June 1994 (age 28) 1 0 Spain Athletic Bilbao
    22 FW Kamaldeen Sulemana 15 February 2002 (age 20) 11 0 France Rennes
    27 FW Antoine Semenyo 7 January 2000 (age 22) 1 0 England Bristol City
    28 FW Daniel Afriyie 26 June 2001 (age 21) 1 0 Ghana Hearts of Oak
      FW Benjamin Tetteh 10 July 1997 (age 25) 7 0 England Hull City
      FW Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer 13 September 2001 (age 21) 0 0 Germany Hamburger SV

5.2. Recent call-ups

The following players were called up for Ghana during the past twelve months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Richard Attah 9 April 1995 (age 27) 0 0 Ghana Hearts of Oak 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
GK Ibrahim Danlad 2 December 2002 (age 19) 0 0 Ghana Asante Kotoko v.  Ethiopia, 11 November 2021 PRE

DF Jonathan Mensah 13 July 1990 (age 32) 69 1 United States Columbus Crew v.  Central African Republic, 5 June 2022
DF Abdul Mumin 6 June 1998 (age 24) 0 0 Spain Rayo Vallecano v.  Central African Republic, 5 June 2022
DF Montari Kamaheni 1 February 2000 (age 22) 0 0 Israel Ashdod v.  Nigeria, 29 March 2022
DF Philomon Baffour 6 February 2001 (age 21) 0 0 Ghana Dreams 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
DF Nicholas Opoku 11 August 1997 (age 25) 14 1 France Amiens v.  South Africa, 6 September 2021
DF Fatawu Mohammed 2 June 1992 (age 30) 1 0 Ghana Hearts of Oak v.  South Africa, 6 September 2021
DF Joseph Adjei 20 August 1995 (age 27) 0 0 Ghana Legon Cities v.  South Africa, 6 September 2021

MF Augustine Okrah 14 September 1993 (age 29) 2 0 Ghana Bechem United v.  Central African Republic, 5 June 2022
MF Yaw Yeboah 28 March 1997 (age 25) 4 0 United States Columbus Crew v.  Nigeria, 29 March 2022
MF David Abagna 9 September 1998 (age 24) 1 0 Ghana Real Tamale 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
MF Emmanuel Lomotey 19 December 1997 (age 24) 7 0 Sweden Malmö FF v.  Ethiopia, 11 November 2021 PRE
MF Majeed Ashimeru 10 October 1997 (age 24) 2 0 Belgium Anderlecht v.  Ethiopia, 11 November 2021 PRE
MF Alfred Duncan 10 March 1993 (age 29) 10 0 Italy Fiorentina v.  Zimbabwe, 9 October 2021 PRE
MF Tariqe Fosu 5 November 1995 (age 26) 4 1 England Stoke v.  Zimbabwe, 9 October 2021 PRE

FW Joseph Paintsil 1 February 1998 (age 24) 5 0 Belgium Genk v.  Central African Republic, 5 June 2022
FW Richmond Boakye 28 January 1993 (age 29) 19 7 Greece Lamia 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
FW Samuel Owusu 28 March 1996 (age 26) 17 1 Serbia ÄŒukarički 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
FW Maxwell Abbey Quaye 2 February 1998 (age 24) 1 0 Ghana Great Olympics 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
FW Joel Fameyeh 14 May 1997 (age 25) 6 2 Russia Orenburg v.  Zimbabwe, 9 October 2021 PRE
FW Emmanuel Gyasi 11 January 1994 (age 28) 3 0 Italy Spezia v.  Zimbabwe, 9 October 2021 PRE

5.3. Local team

The Ghana football association Ghana (GFA) oversees various national teams at various levels, including the Ghanaian national football team. The team is limited to players who participate within the league that they play in, hence they are called Ghana Premier League. The team is known as"the Local Black Stars.

5.4. Youth teams

The Ghana Football Association Ghana (GFA) manages numerous national teams in various levels of age, ranging from 16 and 23 years old.

 

5.4.1. Under-23

The under-23 team (or Olympic team) from the 1992 Summer Olympics is a team that competes at Olympic games of football, the Football All-Africa Games, CAF U-23 Championship and is limited to players who are between 23 and 23 years old. The football team at the Olympic Games is thus considered as an under-23 World Cup and since the Olympic Games of 1992; the under-23 team has played in five Olympic Games, becoming the first African team to earn an Olympic medal, when they took home bronze in the 1992 Olympics.

5.4.2. Under-20

The level for under-20s is regarded as a feeder to senior players in the Black Stars senior squad and has been a part of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its beginning during the 1970s. The under-20 team won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2009 when they defeated Brazil 4-3 in penalties after the match ended in 0-0 extra time. It was the first team on the Africa continent to win the tournament. Under-20 teams have won the African Youth Championship four times in 1999, 1995, 2009 and 2021 and also two runners-up in the years 2001 and 2013.

5.4.3. Under-17

The level for under-17 is the smallest level, and the chosen players must be older than 17 years old. The team is representing Ghana at Ghana's participation in the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The team's under-17s has twice been FIFA U-17 World Cup champions in 1991 and in 1995. They also finished runners-up in two instances in 1997 and 1993. The under-17 team has been involved in 8 of the 15 competitions in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, beginning with the Scotland in 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship and taking the lead in at the FIFA U-17 World Cup competition in the 1990swhen they made it to four finals in a row. They also won two times in the African U-17 Championship.

6. Player records

At the time of writing, 27 September 2022.

Players who are bold are in active service in Ghana.

6.1. Most capped players

Rank Player Caps Goals Career
1 Asamoah Gyan 109 51 2003–2019
André Ayew 109 23 2007–present
3 Richard Kingson 93 1 1996–2011
4 John Paintsil 91 0 2001–2013
5 Harrison Afful 86 0 2008–2018
6 Sulley Muntari 84 20 2002–2014
7 Jordan Ayew 83 19 2009–present
8 John Mensah 81 3 2001–2012
9 Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu 78 11 2008–2017
10 Kwadwo Asamoah 74 4 2008–2019

6.2. Top goalscorers

Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Asamoah Gyan 51 109 0.47 2003–2019
2 Edward Acquah 45 41 1.1 1956–1964
3 Kwasi Owusu 36 45 0.8 1968–1976
4 Tony Yeboah 29 59 0.49 1985–1997
5 Karim Abdul Razak 25 62 0.4 1975–1988
6 André Ayew 23 109 0.21 2007–present
7 Wilberforce Mfum 20 26 0.77 1960–1968
Sulley Muntari 20 84 0.24 2002–2014
9 Osei Kofi 19 25 0.76 1964–1973
Abedi Pele 19 73 0.26 1982–1998
Jordan Ayew 19 83 0.23 2009–present

6.3. Captains

  • Awuley Quaye (1978)
  • Kuuku Dadzie (1980–1982)
  • Emmanuel Quarshie (1982–1984)
  • Isaac Paha (1984)
  • James Kwesi Appiah (1984–1992)
  • Abedi Pele (1992–1998)
  • Charles Akonnor (1999–2001)
  • Stephen Appiah (2002–2010)
  • John Mensah (2010–2012)
  • Asamoah Gyan (2012–2019)
  • André Ayew (2019–present)

7. Competitive record

As per detail below.

 

7.1. FIFA World Cup record

Ghana's Black Stars have qualified for three FIFA World Cup tournaments; the 2006, 2010 and 2014. The year 2006 was the most successful for Ghana. Ghana is the one African team to progress into the 2nd round in the World Cup in Germany, and was the sixth country in the last six years from Africa to advance beyond the group stage at the World Cup. Ghana's Black Stars had the youngest team of the 2006 edition, with the average of age 23 and 352 days. They received praise for their improvement in performance. FIFA has ranked Ghana 13th out of 32 nations who participated during the competition.

The 2010. World Cup, Ghana progressed beyond the group stage in the World Cup in South Africa and made it to the quarter-finals in which they were eliminated by Uruguay. They were eliminated by Uruguay. Black Stars were defeated on penalty shootouts following Luis Suarez hand-balled on the goal line in the final time, which prevented a winning goal. Out of the 32 countries which took part at the tournament in 2010, FIFA ranked Ghana 7th.

The team beat Egypt 7-3, averaging 7-3, in November 2013 Ghana was selected for 2014's World Cup in Brazil. They were placed in Group G alongside Germany as well as The United States and Portugal. For the first timein their history, Ghana lost at the stage of group play, drawing Germany at 2-2, and defeating both United States and Portugal by 2 to 1.

FIFA World Cup record Pld W D L GF GA GD
World Cup Finals 12 4 3 5 13 16 −3
World Cup Quals (H) 34 24 8 2 78 19 59
World Cup Quals (A) 33 9 8 16 37 42 −5
World Cup Total 76 37 18 21 124 71 53
FIFA World Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Part of  United Kingdom
Italy 1934
 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962 Did not qualify
England 1966 Withdrew
Mexico 1970 Did not qualify
Germany 1974
Argentina 1978
Spain 1982 Withdrew
Mexico 1986 Did not qualify
Italy 1990
United States 1994
 1998
South Korea Japan 2002
Germany 2006 Round of 16 13th 4 2 0 2 4 6
South Africa 2010 Quarter-finals 7th 5 2 2 1 5 4
United States 2014 Group stage 25th 3 0 1 2 4 6
Russia 2018 Did not qualify
Qatar 2022 Qualified
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined
Total Quarter-finals 4/22 12 4 3 5 13 16

7.2. Africa Cup of Nations record

Ghana has been crowned the Africa Cup of Nations four times in the years 1963 and 1965, as well as 1978 and 1982. It was beaten by Cameroon and Egypt. The first time a team has won the three Nations Cup tournaments, Ghana was granted the right to keep the trophy until 1978. They Black Stars have qualified for the tournament 23 times with runners-up finishing fifth times, third one time Fourth four times. So, Ghana is second in final-game appearances at the tournament, just behind Egypt (who has the most with ten) having nine appearances, effectively reaching the final in more than 50% of the time it is during the tournament. Ghana also has the record for having the most consecutive semi-final appearances having made six straight semi-finals between the years of 2008 and 2017.

Africa Cup of Nations record Pld W D* L GF GA GD
Africa Cup of Nations Finals 102 54 21 27 133 87 46
Africa Cup of Nations record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Sudan 1957 Part of United Kingdom
Egypt 1959 Not affiliated to CAF
 1962 Did not qualify
Ghana 1963 Champions 1st 3 2 1 0 6 1
 1965 Champions 1st 3 3 0 0 12 5
 1968 Second place 2nd 5 3 1 1 11 8
Second place 2nd 5 2 1 1 6 4
Cameroon 1972 Did not qualify
Egypt 1974
Ethiopia 1976
Ghana 1978 Champions 1st 5 4 1 0 9 2
Nigeria 1980 Group stage 5th 3 1 1 1 1 1
 1982 Champions 1st 5 2 3 0 7 5
Ivory Coast 1984 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 2 4
Egypt 1986 Did not qualify
Morocco 1988
Algeria 1990
 1992 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 1 0 6 2
Tunisia 1994 Quarter-finals 5th 3 2 0 1 3 2
 1996 Fourth place 4th 6 4 0 2 7 5
Burkina Faso 1998 Group stage 11th 3 1 0 2 3 3
Ghana Nigeria 2000 Quarter-finals 8th 4 1 1 2 3 4
Mali 2002 Quarter-finals 7th 4 1 2 1 2 2
Tunisia 2004 Did not qualify
Egypt 2006 Group stage 10th 3 1 0 2 2 3
Ghana 2008 Third place 3rd 6 5 0 1 11 5
 2010 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 0 2 4 4
Equatorial Guinea 2012 Fourth place 4th 6 3 1 2 6 5
 2013 Fourth place 4th 6 3 2 1 10 6
Equatorial Guinea 2015 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 1 1 10 3
 2017 Fourth place 4th 6 3 0 3 4 5
Egypt 2019 Round of 16 12th 4 1 3 0 5 3
Cameroon 2021 Group stage 19th 3 0 1 2 3 5
Ivory Coast 2023 To be determined
Guinea 2025
Total 4 Titles 23/33 102 54 21 27 133 87

7.3. African Nations Championship record

Ghana has played for three African Nations Championship tournaments, two times finishing runners-up.

Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Ivory Coast 2009 Runners-up 2nd 5 1 3 1 7 6
Sudan 2011 Group stage 14th 3 0 0 3 1 4
South Africa 2014 Runners-up 2nd 6 3 3 0 4 1
Rwanda 2016 Did not qualify
Morocco 2018
Cameroon 2020
Algeria 2022 Qualified
Total Runners-up 3/6 14 4 6 4 12 11

7.4. African Games record

The football competition in the African Games has been an under-23 competition since.

African Games record
Tear Result GP W D L GS GA
Republic of the Congo 1965 - 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nigeria 1973 - 0 0 0 0 0 0
Algeria 1978 - 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kenya 1987 - 0 0 0 0 0 0
1991–present See Ghana national under-23 football team
Total 0/4 0 0 0 0 0 0

7.5. West African Nations Cup and WAFU Nations Cup record

West African Nations Cup [SCSA Zone III] record

Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA GD
 1982 Final Winner 5 3 2 0 14 8 6
 1983 Final Winner 4 3 1 0 7 2 5
1984 Final Winner 5 2 3 0 9 5 4
1986 Final Winner 6 5 1 0 12 2 10
1987 Final Winner 5 5 0 0 14 2 12
Total 5 Finals 5 Titles 25 18 7 0 56 19 37

West African Football Union Nations Cup record

Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA GD
Nigeria 2010 Semi-final Third place 5 4 0 1 11 3 8
Nigeria 2011 Semi-final Fourth place 4 1 0 3 5 8 −3
 2013 Final Winner 4 3 0 1 9 4 5
Total 1 Final 1 Title 13 8 0 5 25 15 10

7.6. Olympic Games record

Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA
Greece Athens 1896 No association football competition
France Paris 1900 At the 1900 and 1904 Olympics, clubs competed.
United States St. Louis 1904
United Kingdom London 1908 The Gold Coast team did not participate.
Sweden Stockholm 1912
Belgium Antwerp 1920
France Paris 1924
Netherlands Amsterdam 1928
United States Los Angeles 1932 No association football competition.
Nazi Germany Berlin 1936 The Gold Coast team did not participate.
United Kingdom London 1948
Finland Helsinki 1952 Did not participate.
Australia Melbourne 1956
Italy Rome 1960 Did not qualify.
c Tokyo 1964 Quarter-final 7th 4 1 1 2 7 12
Mexico Mexico 1968 Round 1 12th 3 0 2 1 6 8
West Germany Munich 1972 Round 1 16th 3 0 0 3 1 11
Canada Montreal 1976 Withdrew after qualifying.
Soviet Union Moscow 1980
United States Los Angeles 1984 Did not qualify.
South Korea Seoul 1988
1992–present See Ghana national under-23 football team
Total 3/19 24th 10 1 3 6 14 31

8. Honours

As per detail below.

 

8.1. Continental tournaments

Africa Cup of Nations

  • Winners (4): 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982
  • Runners-up (5): 1968, 1970, 1992, 2010, 2015

African Nations Championship

  • Runners-up (2): 2009, 2014

8.2. Continental Subregion

Nkrumah Cup

  • Winners (3): 1959, 1960, 1963

West African Nations Cup

  • Winners (5): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987

CEDEAO Cup

  • Third place (1): 1991

WAFU Nations Cup

  • Winners (2): 2013, 2017
  • Third place (1): 2010

8.3. Other tournaments and cups

Ugandan Independence Tournament

  • Winners: 1962

Pestabola Merdeka

  • Runners up: 1982

Samuel K. Doe Cup 1986

  • Runners up: 1986

Black Stars Tournament 1993 (Libreville, Gabon)

  • Third: 1993

Great Artificial River Championship 1999 (Libya)

  • Runners up: 1999

LG Cup

  • Third: 2003

8.4. Other awards

  • African National Team of the Year Winners (3): 1983, 2006, 2010
  • FIFA most improved team of the year award Winner: 2005

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