The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association. Before gaining independence from Great Britain in 1957, the country played as the Gold Coast.
Although the team did not qualify for the senior FIFA World Cup until 2006, they had qualified for five straight Olympic Games Football Tournaments when the tournament was still a full senior national team competition. The team has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times[5] (in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982), making Ghana the second most successful team in the contest's history, behind Egypt.
After going through 2005 unbeaten, Ghana won the FIFA most improved team of the year award and they reached the second round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup led by Serbian football coach, Ratomir Dujković.
At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, they became the third African team in history to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.
[edit] History
The Ghana Amateur Football Association was founded in 1957, soon after the country's independence, and was affiliated to Confederation of African Football and FIFA the following year. Englishman George Ainsley was appointed coach of the national team.
In 1960 the Black Stars played Spanish giants Real Madrid, who were at the time Spanish, European and intercontinental champions, and drew 3–3.
Charles Kumi Gyamfi became coach in 1961, and Ghana won successive Africa Cup of Nations titles, in 1963 and 1965, and achieved their record win, 13–0 away to Kenya, shortly after the second of these. They also reached the final of the tournament in 1968 and 1970, losing 1–0 on each occasion, to DR Congo and Sudan respectively. Their domination of this tournament earned the country the nickname of "the Brazil of Africa" in the 1960s.[6] The team had no success in FIFA World Cup qualification during this era, and failed to qualify for three successive African Cup of Nations in the 1970s, but qualified for the Olympic Games Football Tournaments, reaching the quarter finals in 1964 and withdrawing on political grounds in 1976 and but making little progress in continent-wide competitions until the appointment of Burkhard Ziese as coach in 1991. The 1992 African Cup of Nations, after three failures to reach the final tournament, saw Ghana finish second, beaten on penalties in the final by Côte d'Ivoire.
Disharmony among the squad, which eventually led to parliamentary and executive intervention to settle issues between two of the team, Abedi Pele and Anthony Yeboah, may have played some part in the failure of the team to build on the successes of the national underage teams. Ghana slipped to 89th place in the FIFA World Rankings, but a new generation of players who went to the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship final became the core of the team at the 2002 African Cup of Nations, and were undefeated for a year in 2005 and reached the finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the first time the team had reached the global stage of the tournament. Ghana started with a 2–0 defeat to eventual champions Italy, but wins over the Czech Republic (2–0) and USA (2–1) saw them through to the second round, where they were beaten 3–0 by Brazil.
The Black Stars went on to secure a 100 percent record in their qualification campaign, winning the group and becoming the first African team to qualify for 2010 FIFA World Cup. The World Cup Draw in Cape Town on 4 December 2009 saw the Ghanaian team being placed alongside Germany, Serbia and Australia in Group D. They were able to reach the last 16 where they played the USA, defeating them 2–1 in extra time to become the third African nation to reach the World Cup quarterfinals. They then lost on penalties to Uruguay in the quarterfinals, having missed a penalty in extra time after a certain goal was saved off the line by Luis Suárez's deliberately parried handball who was then shown a red card for his actions.
[edit] World Cup record
Ghana have qualified for two FIFA World Cup tournaments; 2006 and 2010.
In 2006 they were the only African side to advance to the Second Round of 2006 FIFA World Cup and were the sixth nation in a row from Africa to progress beyond the group stages of the World Cup.[7] Ghana had the youngest team in the FIFA World Cup 2006 with an average age of 23 years and 352 days,[7] and were praised for their improving performance.[8][9] FIFA ranked Ghana 13th out of the 32 countries who competed in the tournament.[10]
Ghana progressed beyond the group stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and reached the quarter-finals where they were eliminated in a penalty shoot-out by Uruguay.[11] Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, FIFA ranked Ghana 7th.[12]
[edit] African Cup of Nations record
After the 1963 and 1965 triumphs, Ghana hosted and won the 13th edition of the African Cup of Nations trophy for keeps in 1978, and four years later, won it again in Tripoli, Libya. The team have won the African Cup of Nations four times (in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982), making Ghana the second most successful team in the contest's history, together with Cameroon; Egypt has won the past three tournaments (2006, 2008, 2010) to give it a record seven titles.
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Ghana African Cup of Nations squads
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- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- **Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won.
- ***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
[edit] Olympic record
Note: Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since 1992.
[edit] Match results
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- This is the senior Ghanaian national team forthcoming International Friendly and 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification matches
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- Key
- Win Draw Loss
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- For 2011 match results, see Ghana national football team 2011
[edit] 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
On 30 July 2011, for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ghana were placed in the 1st pot and drawn in Group D with Zambia, Sudan and Lesotho. Ghana will commence their qualifying campaign in early June 2012, with the finishing top team in Group D advancing to the final Third round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifications.[13]
- Group D
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Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
Ghana |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Zambia |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Sudan |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Lesotho |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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22 March 2013
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Ghana  |
vs. |
Sudan |
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7 June 2013
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Sudan  |
vs. |
Ghana |
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6 September 2013
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Ghana  |
vs. |
Zambia |
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[edit] Team honours
- Winners (4): 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982
- Runners-up (4): 1968, 1970, 1992, 2010
- Third place: 2008
- Fourth place (2): 1996, 2012
- Winners (5): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987
- Bronze medals: 1978
- Football at the All-Africa Games has been an under-23 tournament since 1991
- Runners-up: 2009
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Current technical staff
| Position |
Staff |
| Head coach |
Goran Stevanović |
| Assistant coach |
Akwasi Appiah |
| Goalkeepers' coach |
Edward Ansah |
| Defenders' coach |
 Marcel Desailly |
| Midfielders' coach |
Stephen Appiah |
| Forwards' coach |
Tony Yeboah |
| Fitness coach |
Alek Gusić |
| Psychologist |
Dr. Yao Mfodwo |
| Business manager |
Anthony Baffoe |
| Athletic supervisor |
Sellas Tetteh |
| Head scout |
 Ibrahim Tanko |
| Scout |
Oti Akenten |
| Welfare Officer |
Opoku Afriyie |
| Protocol Officer |
Alex Asante |
| Spokesman |
Randy Abbey |
| Kit Manager |
Sherif Bobo Musah |
| Bioengineer |
Professor Dr. Andrews Ayim |
| Team Doctor |
Dr. Percy Annan |
| 2nd Team Doctor |
Dr. Allan Akaba |
| Masseur |
Richard Hammond |
| Physiotherapist |
Charles Botchway |
| 2nd Physiotherapist |
Jonathan Quartey |
| 3rd Physiotherapist |
Omono Asamoah |
| 4th Physiotherapist |
Mariana Kovacevic |
Last updated: February 2012
Source: Ghana Football Association official website
[edit] Current squad
Match Date: 29 February 2012
Opposition: Chile
Caps and goals correct as of: 29 February 2012, including the match against Chile
- Note: The following 18 players were called for the friendly match against Chile in Chester, Pennsylvania, USA, on 29 February 2012.[14]
[edit] Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Ghana squad within the last 12 months. Retired and Discarded Players are not listed.
- Notes
- INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
- WD Player withdrew from the squad due to personal reason.
[edit] Top goalscorers
[edit] Managers
- Head coaches
- Notes
^ Won African Cup of Nations during tenure.
[edit] Competitive Statistics
- FIFA World Cup Record
| FIFA World Cup Record |
GP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
| World Cup Finals |
9 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
9 |
10 |
−1 |
| World Cup Quals (H) |
30 |
20 |
8 |
2 |
57 |
17 |
+40 |
| World Cup Quals (A) |
29 |
7 |
8 |
14 |
31 |
38 |
−7 |
| World Cup Total |
68 |
31 |
18 |
19 |
97 |
65 |
+32 |
- African Cup of Nations Record
| Nations Cup Record |
GP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
| Nations Cup Finals |
72 |
40 |
14 |
18 |
97 |
61 |
+36 |
| Nations Cup Quals (H) |
31 |
22 |
6 |
3 |
69 |
23 |
+46 |
| Nations Cup Quals (A) |
31 |
11 |
8 |
12 |
42 |
31 |
+11 |
| Nations Cup Total |
134 |
73 |
28 |
33 |
208 |
115 |
+93 |
Nations Cup Record by team
West African Nations Cup [SCSA Zone III] Record
| Year |
Venue |
Round |
Position |
GP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
| 1982 |
Benin |
Final |
Winner |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
14 |
8 |
+6 |
| 1983 |
Côte d'Ivoire |
Final |
Winner |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
+5 |
| 1984 |
Burkina Faso |
Final |
Winner |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
9 |
5 |
+4 |
| 1986 |
Ghana |
Final |
Winner |
6 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
12 |
2 |
+10 |
| 1987 |
Liberia |
Final |
Winner |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
2 |
+12 |
| Total |
5/5 |
5 Finals |
5 Championships |
25 |
18 |
7 |
0 |
56 |
19 |
+37 |
- The Tournament was not held in 1985.
[edit] Kit evolution
[edit] Jersey gallery
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
[edit] Titles
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Links to related articles
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WAFU Competitions
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Zonal Competitions
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North America,
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Finalists
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| Eliminated in the quarter-finals |
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| Eliminated in the round of 16 |
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| Eliminated in the group stage |
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| Champions |
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| Runners-up |
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| Third place |
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| Fourth place |
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| Eliminated in the quarterfinals |
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| Eliminated in the round of 16 |
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| Eliminated in group stage |
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