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Ghana national football team

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This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Ghana women's national football team.

Ghana
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Black Stars
AssociationGhana Football Association (GFA)
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationWAFU (West Africa)
Head coachCharles Akonnor
CaptainAndré Ayew
Most capsAsamoah Gyan (109)
Top scorerAsamoah Gyan (51)
FIFA codeGHA
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 73 Decrease 3 (24 October 2024)[1]
Highest14 (February 2008, April–May 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 Ghana [2]
(Malawi; 12 December 1965)[2][3]
Biggest defeat
 Bulgaria 10–0 Ghana 
(León, Mexico; 14 October 1968)[4]
World Cup
Appearances3 (first in 2006)
Best resultQuarter-finals, 2010
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances22 (first in 1963)
Best resultChampions, 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982
African Nations Championship
Appearances3 (first in 2009)
Best resultSecond place, 2009, 2014

The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international football and has done so since the 1950s. The team consists of twenty players including the technical team.[6] The team is nicknamed the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa in the flag of Ghana. It is governed by the Ghana Football Association, the governing body for football in Ghana and the oldest football association in Africa (founded in 1920). Prior to 1957, the team played as the Gold Coast. The team represents both FIFA and CAF.

Although the team qualified for the senior FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2006, they had qualified for four Olympic Games Football Tournaments when the tournament qualifiers was still a full senior national team competition for African teams; their best achievement was the third position at the 1992 Summer Olympics. The team has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times[7] (in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982) and has been runner-up five times (in 1968, 1970, 1992, 2010, and 2015). After going through 2005 unbeaten, the Ghana national football team won the FIFA Best Mover of the Year Award and reached the second round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, they became only the third African team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, and in 2014 they competed in their third consecutive World Cup.[citation needed]

History

20th century

Black Stars members in the 1960s pose with some of Ghana's successive international football trophies won.

The Gold Coast Football Association was founded in 1920, succeeded by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) in 1957, which affiliated to Confederation of African Football and FIFA the following year.

On 19 August 1962 at the Accra Sports Stadium, the Black Stars played Spanish giants Real Madrid, who were at the time Spanish champions, former European champions and intercontinental champions, and drew 3–3.[8]

Charles Kumi Gyamfi became coach in 1961, and the Black Stars won successive African Cup of Nations titles, in 1963 and 1965, and achieved their record win, 13–2 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 Black Stars team the nicknames of "the Black Stars of West Africa" and "the Black Stars of Africa" in the 1960s.[9]

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, becoming the first team from sub-Saharan Africa to qualify for the Games,[10] reaching the quarter-finals in 1964 and withdrawing after qualifying in 1976 and 1980, later winning the 1982 African cup of nations. After three failures to reach the tournament final, the 1992 African Cup of Nations saw the Black Stars finish second.

21st century

Black Stars Continuum

Prior to the year 2000, disharmony among the squad which eventually led to parliamentary and executive intervention to settle issues between two squad members, Abedi Pele and Anthony Yeboah in the late 1990s, may have played some part in the failure of the team to build on the successes of the national underage teams in the late 1990s, but a new 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, 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. The Black Stars started by succumbing to a 2–0 defeat to eventual champions Italy, but wins over the Czech Republic (2–0) and the United States (2–1) saw them through to the second round, where they lost 3–0 to Brazil.[11]

Black Stars squad line-up prior to match

In 2008, Ghana reached a high ranking of 14 according to the FIFA World Rankings. 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 the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the final tournament, the team competed in Group D with Germany, Serbia and Australia. Ghana reached the round of 16 where they played the United States, winning 2–1 in extra time to become the third African nation to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. The team then lost to Uruguay in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals, having missed a penalty kick in extra time after a certain goal was prevented by Luis Suárez's deliberate handball, who was then shown a red card for his actions.[12]

In 2013 Ghana became the only team in Africa to reach four consecutive semi-finals of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations twice, from 1963 and 1970 and from 2008 and 2013.[13]

Ghana was sufficiently highly ranked by FIFA to start their qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in the Second round. They won the group, and in the following round qualified for the 2014 World Cup finals in November 2013, beating Egypt 7–3 on aggregate in a two-legged play-off.[14] Ghana was drawn in Group G for the finals, where they faced Germany, Portugal, and the United States.[15] The World Cup finals ended up in disappointment as Ghana exited in the group stages with issues of poor planning and payment bonuses being blamed for the poor performance, although they did manage a 2–2 draw with Germany, who ended up winning the competition. Ghana was the only team to not lose to Germany in the tournament.

Team image

Kits and crest

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ghana national football team kits.
Ghana home shirt: 1970s–1980s

The black star is present on the Flag of Ghana and national coat of arms in the centre of the national crest. Adopted following the independence of Ghana in 1957, the black star has always been included in its kits. The

Ghana national football team (Black Stars) badge and national anthem

Black Stars' kits were sponsored by Puma SE from 2005, with the deal ending in 2014.[16]

The Black Star kit is used instead of the original gold, green, and red coloured football kit based on the colours of the Ghana national flag. The Black Stars have used an all-white and partly black football kit which was worn from the years 1957 to 1989 and again from 2006 until December 2014.

Between 1990 and 2006 the Ghana national three team used the kit in the colours of the national flag of Ghana, with gold, green and red used extensively, 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 also used in the sixties and seventies, 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.[17][18]

The Ghana national football team's football kit for the 2014 FIFA World Cup was ranked as the best kit of the tournament by BuzzFeed.[19]

Black Stars 2008 Africa Cup of Nations 1st and 2nd kits

Kit suppliers

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

Grounds and training grounds

Kumasi Sports Stadium
Lizzy Sports Complex

There is an unknown home stadium for the Black Stars. World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches have been played at the Essipong Stadium and Sekondi-Takoradi Stadium in Sekondi-Takoradi, the Len Clay Stadium, Kumasi Sports Stadium and Abrankese Stadium in Kumasi, the Cape Coast Sports Stadium in Cape Coast, the Accra Sports Stadium in the Accra and the Tamale Stadium in Tamale. Some smaller, regional stadia (stadiums) were also used in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying and 2004 African Cup of Nations qualification qualifying campaigns.

The Black Stars' 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.[20]

Winning Bonuses

Media coverage

83 percent of the Ghanaian people are Akan-speakers, and about 21 percent are English-speakers; match schedules of the Black Stars are broadcast both 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.[21]

Organization and finance

The Black Stars as it stands now has no official head because of corrupt practices by the then president, Kwesi Nyantakyi.[22] and vice-president George Afriyie,[23] with Frank Davis as director of football, and Edward Bawa as treasurer.[24] 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,[25][26] following the gold mining corporations Ashanti Goldfields Corporation and Goldfields Ghana Limited (GGL), which had been sponsoring the Black Stars since 2005.[27]

On 28 August 2013, Ghana Football Association (GFA) launched a TV channel and named GFA TV, thus becoming the first football association on the African continent to launch its own TV network. The channel has the exclusive rights to broadcast all the Black Stars' matches.[28] 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.[29]

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 the Black Stars' 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final against Uruguay in which was attended by 84,017 spectators.[30] 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.[31] The match was watched by 700 million people around the world.[31]

Following the team's appearances at the 2006 and 2010 World Cup tournaments they were greeted by several hundred avid fans dancing and singing at Kotoka International Airport in Accra.[32]

Rivalries

Main article: Ghana–Nigeria football rivalry

The Black Stars' main footballing rivalry is with the Super Eagles, the national team of Nigeria. The "Battle of Supremacy on the Gulf of Guinea" is between two of the most successful teams on the African

Ghana vs. Nigeria in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations Quarter-Final

continent.[33] 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.[33][34]

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

  • Books: Several books have been published on the team's history and participation in major tournaments. These include Ghana, The Rediscovered Soccer Might: Watch Out World!,[35] about the history and performance of the Black Stars and also all the major association football national teams that the Black Stars have ever played against, and The Black Stars of Ghana by Alan Whelan;[36] about Black Stars commencing their progress through the final rounds of the 2010 World Cup and into the quarter-finals.
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
  • 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",[37] who invested a lot of energy into making Ghana's association football national team – the Black Stars – a force in African football.[38]
  • 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 national football team their nicknames, the Black Stars of West Africa and the Black Stars of Africa.[38]
  • Dances: Upon the Black Stars scoring against opposition teams, dance forms of the worldwide popular Ghanaian Azonto were performed by Black Stars players in their goal celebrations in match victories at the 2010 World Cup and in 2013, a new 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.[39] Black Stars goal celebrations in match victories at the 2014 World Cup and upon scoring against opposition teams, are to establish and showcase Alkayida.[40]
  • Songs: On occasions of past World Cups or African Championships, a number of Ghanaian 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 their quest for the capturing of the World Cup trophy.[41] 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 famous "Asamoah Gyan Dance" goal celebration which he demonstrated at the 2010 World Cup and in the Premier League. 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 the GFA has indicated that the Black Stars are a protected brand.[42]

Coaching staff

see also : Ghana national football team manager

As of 15 December 2020

Current technical staff

Head Coach Ghana Charles Kwabla Akonnor
Assistant Coach Ghana David Duncan
Technical Director Ghana Berhnard Lippert
Dietician Ghana Renee Opare-Otoo
Goalkeeper Coach Ghana Najawu Issah
Goalkeeper Coach Ghana Simon Addo
Equipment Officers Ghana Daniel Yankey,
Ghana Suleman Zampa
Welfare Officer Ghana Henry Martey
Technical Coordinator Ghana Stephen Appiah
Technical Coordinator Ghana Franklin Appiah
Technical Coordinator Ghana Joseph Asamoah
Head Scout Ghana Otto Addo
Masseurs Ghana Samuel Ankomah,
Ghana George Nii Anum Amasa
Physiotherapists Ghana Colonel Ofosu Anim
Ghana Ralph Frank
Head Psychologist Ghana Professor Joseph Mintah
Head Doctor Ghana Prof. Dr.Chris Adomako
Video Analysts Ghana Michael Okyere,
Ghana Edward Acheampong
Business Manager Ghana Anthony Baffoe
Head Scout Ghana George Boateng
Dentist Ghana David Yaw Edu Arthur

Last updated: January 2020
Source: Ghana Football Association official website

Former head coaches

see also : Ghana national football team manager

Since 1957 Ghana has had 32 different head coaches and three caretakers. C. K. Gyamfi is the most successful of these, leading the Black Stars to three Africa Cup of Nations titles – in 1963, 1965 and 1982 – making Gyamfi the joint most successful coach in the competition's history.[43] Fred Osam Duodu led the Black Stars to their 1978 Africa Cup of Nations title;[44] Ratomir Dujković, Milovan Rajevac, and James Kwesi Appiah, have all led the Black Stars to World Cup qualification.[45][46]

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Sudan on 12 and 17 November 2020.[47][48][49]
Caps and goals updated as 17 November 2020 after the match against Sudan.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Fatau Dauda (1985-04-06) 6 April 1985 (age 39) 25 0 Ghana Legon Cities
1GK Lawrence Ati-Zigi (1996-11-29) 29 November 1996 (age 27) 3 0 Switzerland St. Gallen
1GK Razak Abalora (1996-09-04) 4 September 1996 (age 28) 2 0 Ghana Asante Kotoko
2DF John Boye (1987-04-23) 23 April 1987 (age 37) 70 6 France Metz
2DF Baba Rahman (1994-07-02) 2 July 1994 (age 30) 30 0 England Chelsea
2DF Andy Yiadom (1991-12-02) 2 December 1991 (age 32) 11 0 England Reading
2DF Nicholas Opoku (1997-08-11) 11 August 1997 (age 27) 10 0 France Amiens
2DF Joseph Aidoo (1995-09-29) 29 September 1995 (age 29) 7 0 Spain Celta Vigo
2DF Joseph Attamah (1994-05-22) 22 May 1994 (age 30) 6 0 Turkey Kayserispor
2DF Alexander Djiku (1994-08-09) 9 August 1994 (age 30) 4 0 France Strasbourg
2DF Gideon Mensah (1998-07-18) 18 July 1998 (age 26) 4 0 Portugal Vitória de Guimarães
2DF Christopher Nettey (1998-07-17) 17 July 1998 (age 26) 2 0 Ghana Asante Kotoko
2DF Benson Anang (2000-05-01) 1 May 2000 (age 24) 1 0 Slovakia Žilina
2DF Kwadwo Amoako (1998-12-21) 21 December 1998 (age 25) 0 0 Ghana Ashanti Gold
3MF André Ayew (Captain) (1989-12-17) 17 December 1989 (age 34) 91 19 Wales Swansea City
3MF Mubarak Wakaso (1990-07-25) 25 July 1990 (age 34) 59 12 China Jiangsu Suning
3MF Afriyie Acquah (1992-01-05) 5 January 1992 (age 32) 38 1 Turkey Yeni Malatyaspor
3MF Jeffrey Schlupp (1992-12-23) 23 December 1992 (age 31) 19 1 England Crystal Palace
3MF Samuel Owusu (1996-03-28) 28 March 1996 (age 28) 13 1 Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli
3MF Tariqe Fosu (1995-11-05) 5 November 1995 (age 29) 4 1 England Brentford
3MF Emmanuel Lomotey (1997-12-19) 19 December 1997 (age 26) 3 0 France Amiens
3MF Majeed Ashimeru (1997-10-10) 10 October 1997 (age 27) 1 0 Austria Red Bull Salzburg
3MF Clifford Aboagye (1995-02-11) 11 February 1995 (age 29) 0 0 Mexico Puebla
4FW Jordan Ayew (1991-09-11) 11 September 1991 (age 33) 65 17 England Crystal Palace
4FW Caleb Ekuban (1994-03-23) 23 March 1994 (age 30) 8 3 Turkey Trabzonspor
4FW John Antwi (1992-08-06) 6 August 1992 (age 32) 1 0 Egypt Pyramids

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Ghana in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Richard Ofori (1993-11-01) 1 November 1993 (age 31) 22 0 South Africa Orlando Pirates v.  Sudan, 12 November 2020 SUS
GK Richard Attah (1995-04-09) 9 April 1995 (age 29) 0 0 Ghana Hearts of Oak v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 CNC
DF Harrison Afful (1986-06-24) 24 June 1986 (age 38) 84 0 United States Columbus Crew v.  Sudan, 12 November 2020 WD
DF Kasim Nuhu (1995-06-22) 22 June 1995 (age 29) 11 2 Germany 1899 Hoffenheim v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
DF Yakubu Mohammed (1996-06-07) 7 June 1996 (age 28) 1 0 Tanzania Azam v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
DF Lumor Agbenyenu (1996-08-15) 15 August 1996 (age 28) 14 0 Portugal Sporting CP v.  Mali, 9 October 2020 WD
DF Habib Mohammed (1997-07-04) 4 July 1997 (age 27) 0 0 Ghana Asante Kotoko v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 CNC
MF Thomas Partey (1993-06-13) 13 June 1993 (age 31) 30 10 England Arsenal v.  Sudan, 12 November 2020 INJ
MF Iddrisu Baba (1996-01-22) 22 January 1996 (age 28) 3 0 Spain Mallorca v.  Sudan, 12 November 2020 INJ
MF Jamie Leweling (2001-02-26) 26 February 2001 (age 23) 0 0 Germany Greuther Fürth v.  Sudan, 12 November 2020 WD
MF Bernard Mensah (1994-10-17) 17 October 1994 (age 30) 5 1 Turkey Beşiktaş v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
MF Joseph Paintsil (1998-02-01) 1 February 1998 (age 26) 4 3 Turkey Ankaragücü v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
MF Kamaldeen Sulemana (2002-02-15) 15 February 2002 (age 22) 2 0 Denmark Nordsjælland v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
MF Alfred Duncan (1993-03-10) 10 March 1993 (age 31) 10 0 Italy Cagliari v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 CNC
MF Christopher Antwi-Adjei (1994-02-07) 7 February 1994 (age 30) 1 0 Germany Paderborn 07 v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 CNC
FW Eugene Ansah (1994-12-16) 16 December 1994 (age 29) 1 0 Israel Ironi Kiryat Shmona v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
FW Mohammed Kudus (2000-08-02) 2 August 2000 (age 24) 2 1 Netherlands Ajax v.  Mali, 9 October 2020 INJ
FW Richmond Boakye (1993-01-28) 28 January 1993 (age 31) 13 5 Serbia Red Star Belgrade v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 CNC
FW Yahaya Mohammed (1988-02-17) 17 February 1988 (age 36) 1 0 Ghana Aduana Stars v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 CNC
Notes
  • CNC Cancelled match.
  • WD Withdrew.
  • INJ Withdrew because of injury.
  • PRE Preliminary squad.
  • RET Player has retired from international football.
  • SUS Suspended from the national team.

Youth teams

The football association of Ghana (GFA) administers several national teams at different age levels between 16 and 23 years of age.

Under-23

Main article: Ghana national under-23 football team

The under-23 level (or Olympic team) from the 1992 Summer Olympics competes in Olympic football tournaments, Football at the All-Africa Games, CAF U-23 Championship and is restricted to using players aged 23 years and under.[50] The football at the Olympic Games is thus considered as an under-23 World Cup and since the Olympic Games of 1992; the under-23 level has participated in 5 Olympic Games, becoming the first African team to win an Olympic medal when they won bronze in 1992.[50]

Under-20

Main article: Ghana national under-20 football team

The under-20 level is considered as the feeder level to the Black Stars senior squad and has competed at the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in the 1970s. The under-20 level captured the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2009 after defeating Brazil 4–3 on penalties after the match finished 0–0 in extra time, and becoming the first on the Africa continent to do so. The under-20 level has been champions of the African Youth Championship three times: in 1995, 1999 and 2009, as well as twice runners-up in 2001 and 2013.

Under-17

Main article: Ghana national under-17 football team

The under-17 level is the youngest level and players chosen may not be more than 17 years of age. The team represents Ghana in the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The under-17 team have twice been FIFA U-17 World Cup champions, in 1991 and 1995. Additionally they finished as runners up on two occasions, 1993 and 1997. The under-17 level has participated in eight of the 15 tournaments of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, debuting in Scotland 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship and dominating the FIFA U-17 World Cup competition in the 1990s, where they reached four consecutive finals.[51] They also twice won the African U-17 Championship.

Competitive record

Black Stars at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations

Africa Cup of Nations record

Ghana has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times – in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982 – bettered by Cameroon and Egypt. As the first winner of three Nations Cup tournaments, Ghana obtained the right to permanently hold the trophy in 1978.[52] The Black Stars have qualified for the tournament 22 times in total, finishing as runners-up five times, third once, and fourth four times. Thus, Ghana has the most final game appearances at the tournament with nine, essentially making the final in almost half of its appearances in the tournament. Ghana also holds the record of most consecutive semi-final appearances with six straight between 2008 and

AFCON 2015 match between Ghana and Guinea

2017.

Africa Cup of Nations Record
Africa Cup of Nations Record Pld W D* L GF GA GD
Africa Cup of Nations Finals 99 54 20 25 130 82 +48
Africa Cup of Nations
Titles: 4
Appearances: 22
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
Sudan 1957 Part of United Kingdom
Egypt 1959 Not affiliated to CAF
Ethiopia 1962 Did not qualify
Ghana 1963 Champions 1st 3 2 1 0 6 1
Tunisia 1965 Champions 1st 3 3 0 0 12 5
Ethiopia 1968 Second place 2nd 5 3 1 1 11 8
Sudan 1970 Second place 2nd 5 2 2 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
Libya 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
Senegal 1992 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 1 0 6 2
Tunisia 1994 Quarter-finals 5th 3 2 0 1 3 2
South Africa 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
Angola 2010 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 0 2 4 4
GabonEquatorial Guinea 2012 Fourth place 4th 6 3 1 2 6 5
South Africa 2013 Fourth place 4th 6 3 2 1 10 6
Equatorial Guinea 2015 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 1 1 10 3
Gabon 2017 Fourth place 4th 6 3 0 3 4 5
Egypt 2019 Round of 16 12th 4 1 3 0 5 3
Cameroon 2021 To be determined
Ivory Coast 2023
Guinea 2025
Total Champions 22/32 99 54 20 25 130 82
*Denotes place was determined by penalty kicks.
** Gold background colour indicates that the team won the tournament.
***Red border color indicates the team was a host nation.

African Nations Championship record

Ghana has competed in three African Nations Championship tournaments, twice finishing as runners-up.

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

African Games

Football at the African Games has been an under-23 tournament since 1991.
See also: Ghana national under-23 football team
African Games Record
Year 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

West African Nations Cup and WAFU Nations Cup record

Olympic record

Main article: Ghana Olympic football team
Bernard Aryee former Black Stars Central midfielder and part of the Bronze Medalist squad at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic football tournament.
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 [a]
Australia Melbourne 1956
Italy Rome 1960 Did not qualify
Japan 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
a. Note: The Gold Coast national football team established in 1950; country known as Gold Coast then renamed Ghana in 1957, not competing in international competitions and not being part of neither FIFA nor CAF until 1958, and therefore also recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
n. Note: Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since 1992.

FIFA World Cup record

Main article: Ghana at the FIFA World Cup
Black Stars at the World Cup and Black Stars vs. Uruguay in the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final match at Soccer City, Johannesburg on 2 July 2010
Czech Republic- Ghana line-up Group stage match, (First World Cup win) at 2006 World Cup in Germany

The Black Stars have qualified for three FIFA World Cup tournaments; 2006, 2010, and 2014. In 2006, Ghana was the only African side to advance to the second round of the World Cup in Germany, and was the sixth nation in a row from Africa to progress beyond the group stages of the World Cup.[53] The Black Stars had the youngest team in the 2006 edition with an average age of 23 years and 352 days,[53] and were praised for their improving performance.[54][55] FIFA ranked Ghana 13th out of the 32 countries who competed in the tournament.[56]

In the 2010 World Cup, Ghana progressed beyond the group stages of the World Cup in South Africa, and reached the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by Uruguay. The Black Stars were defeated on penalty shootout after Luis Suárez hand-balled on the goal line deep into extra time, preventing a certain winning goal.[57] Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2010 edition, FIFA ranked Ghana 7th.[58]

After beating Egypt 7–3 on aggregate in November 2013, Ghana qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.[59] They were drawn in Group G with Germany, the United States and Portugal.[60] For the first time, Ghana fell in the group stage, tying Germany 2–2 and

losing to both the United States and Portugal by 2–1.[61]

Ghana - Uruguay Quarterfinal line-up at 2010 World Cup in South African
FIFA World Cup record
FIFA World Cup record Pld W D L GF GA GD
World Cup Finals 9 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 Did not enter
Italy 1934
France 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
France 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
Brazil 2014 Group stage 25th 3 0 1 2 4 6
Russia 2018 Did not qualify
Qatar 2022 To be determined
Canada Mexico United States 2026
Total Quarter-finals 3/21 12 4 3 5 13 16

Honours

Last updated 8 February 2015

Continental tournaments

Winners (4): 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982
Runners-up (5): 1968, 1970, 1992, 2010, 2015
Runners-up (2): 2009, 2014

Continental Subregion

Winners (3): 1959, 1960, 1963
Winners (5): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987
Third place (1): 1991
Winners (2): 2013, 2017
Third place (1): 2010

Other tournaments and cups

Winners: 1962
Runners up: 1982
  • Samuel K. Doe Cup 1986[65]
Runners up: 1986
  • Black Stars Tournament 1993 (Libreville, Gabon)[66]
Third: 1993
  • Great Artificial River Championship 1999 (Libya)[67]
Runners up: 1999
Third: 2003

Other awards

Results and fixtures

Main article: Ghana national football team results (2020–present)

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

Black Stars vs. Argentina national football team, at the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, in Córdoba, Argentina.
Key
  Win
  Draw
  Loss

2019

14 November 2019 2021 AFCONQ Ghana  2–0  South Africa Cape Coast, Ghana
19:00 UTC±0
Stadium: Cape Coast Sports Stadium
18 November 2019 2021 AFCONQ São Tomé and Príncipe  0–1  Ghana São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
16:00 UTC±0
Stadium: Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho

2020

9 October 2020 Friendly Mali  3–0  Ghana Side, Turkey
19:00 (UTC+3)
Report Stadium: Emirhan Sport Center Stadium
12 October 2020 Friendly Ghana  5–1  Qatar Aksu, Turkey
15:30 (UTC+3)
Report
Stadium: Mardan Sports Complex
12 November 2020 2021 AFCON Q Ghana  2–0  Sudan Cape Coast, Ghana
16:00 UTC±0
Report Stadium: Cape Coast Sports Stadium
Referee: Maguette N'Diaye (Senegal)
17 November 2020 2021 AFCON Q Sudan  1-0  Ghana
15:00 UTC+2

Records

As of 12 November 2020 [69]
Players in bold are still active.

See also

[70]

References

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Titles chronology

Last updated 28 November 2013

Achievements
Preceded by African Champions
1963 (First title)
1965 (Second title) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by African Champions
1978 (Third title) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by African Champions
1982 (Fourth title) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Inaugural Champions
 West African Champions
1982 (First title)
1983 (Second title)
1984 (Third title)
1986 (Fourth title)
1987 (Fifth title) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by WAFU Nations Cup Champions
2013 (First title) 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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