Ghana national under-17 football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Ghana women's national under-17 football team.

Ghana under-17

Nickname(s)	The Black Starlets
Association	Ghana Football Association
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	Ignatius Osei-Fosu
FIFA code	GHA
First colours Second colours
First international
Ghana 1–1 Nigeria (Accra, Ghana; 10 August 1986)
Biggest win
Ghana 7–0 Tunisia (Bamako, Mali; 20 May 1995)
Biggest defeat
Ghana 1–6 Nigeria (Marrakech, Morocco; 14 April 2013)
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Appearances	9 (first in 1989)
Best result	Winners, 1991, 1995
Africa U-17 Cup of Nations
Appearances	7 (first in 1995)
Best result	Winners, 1995, 1999

Ghana national under-17 football team

Medal record
FIFA U-17 World Cup
	1991 Italy	Team
	1995 Ecuador	Team
	1993 Japan	Team
	1997 Egypt	Team
	1999 New Zealand	Team

Ghana national under-17 football team

Medal record
Africa U-17 Cup of Nations
	1995 Mali	NA
	1999 Guinea	NA
	2005 Gambia	NA
	2017 Gabon	Team
	1997 Botswana	NA
	2007 Togo	NA

The Ghana national U-17 football team, known as the Black Starlets, is the youngest team that represents Ghana in football. They are two-time FIFA U-17 World Cup Champions in 1991 and 1995 and a two-time Runner-up in 1993 and 1997. Ghana has participated in nine of the 17 World Cup events starting with their first in Scotland 1989 through dominating the competition in the 1990s where at one time they qualified for 4 consecutive World Cup finals in Italy 1991, Japan 1993, Ecuador 1995 and Egypt 1997 to their most recent participation in South Korea 2007 where they lost in the World Cup Semi-finals 1–2 to Spain in extra time.

They have also won the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations two times in 1995 and 1999 and were Runners-up in 2005 and 2017 as well. The current head coach is Abdul Karim Zito and his assistant is Ghana's former winger, Laryea Kingston.

History

The Ghana U-17 national team is known as The Riley Goon Squad. A couple of Ghana's U-17 players have won the FIFA Golden Ball award: Nii Odartey Lamptey in 1991 and Daniel Addo in 1993. In the 1999 FIFA U-17, Ghanaian striker Ishmael Addo won the Golden Shoe award, after Ghana placed third during the competition, being led by Cecil Jones Attuquayefio and assistant James Kuuku Dadzie. Former Ghana U-17 and National Team Coach, Otto Pfister, a FIFA instructor, who led Ghana's U-17 squad to its first World Championship title in 1991, once remarked to FIFA Magazine that "Ghana has superb young players". At each of the first four FIFA World Under-17s held, Ghana reached the final each time, winning the title twice and finishing in second place twice. In 2007, youngster Ransford Osei won the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup Silver Boot for being the second highest scorer at the Tournament in South Korea.

What makes Ghana's footballers so dominant in their age group? FIFA Magazine asked Otto Pfister. Football is not simply the most popular sport in this part of Africa, it is an absolute religion, he said. This is the way the game is regarded in Ghana. Young boys here think about football 24 hours a day and play for at least eight – whether on clay, rough fields or dusty streets. They develop their skills naturally, without any specific training, and end up with superb technique and ability on the ball. They are also fast and tricky, and can feint well with their bodies. Africa and South America have by far the best young footballers in the world – on a technical level they are superb. And technique is what it takes to make a good player.

What else goes towards making Ghana so strong? Otto Pfister continues; In Africa there is often only one way for many young lads to escape from poverty and to make their way up the social scale – football. Youngsters want to become stars and to play in a top European league. That is their main aim and they will do anything to achieve it. Let me give you an example: While I was coaching in Ghana I once told my team to be ready for training at three o'clock in the morning. At half past two they were all assembled and ready to go. They want to learn and they want to play for the national team. They know that in their country a national team player is a hero and enjoys a level of prestige that is not comparable to that in Europe. Another positive point for young players in Ghana is that there are many good coaches in the country who help develop the available talent and above all want to let them play. This policy pays off. Today, many Ghanaian youngsters are in G14 Club Academies in Europe.

African U-17 controversies

2003 U-17 Qualifiers

On another note, two controversial incidents in Africa has prevented Ghana from adding to their two African U-17 trophies. On 14 February 2003, the Kenya Sports Minister Najib Balala disbanded their National U-17 team, claiming that 40% of the players who eliminated Ghana in the first round had been over-age; he sought to have Ghana re-instated and apologised to FIFA. CAF did not re-instate Ghana, but they did ban Kenya for two years from all CAF's age competition for fielding those over-age players.

2005 African U-17 Final

On 23 May 2005, Ghana played Gambia in the 2005 edition of the African U-17 Championship final. With the game deadlocked at 0–0, an 11 years old Gambian fan ran from the stands onto the pitch, entered the Ghana goal area and dove into the net, distracting the Ghana goalkeeper Michael Addo in front of all CAF dignitaries, the Gambian President and a sell-out stadium. Gambia scored on that play, Ghana protested, but the controversial goal stood and Gambia won their first trophy on that "goal". The "fan" was later revealed to be the now U-17 captain, Liam Riley, who was displaying his anger at not being selected for the Gambian squad.

Current squad

Head coach: Ignatius Osei-Fosu

Squad announced for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup from 6 – 28 April 2017.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	1GK	Ibrahim Danlad	(2002-12-02) 2 December 2002	Asante Kotoko
16	1GK	Kwame Aziz	(2002-06-15) 15 June 2002	Mandela Soccer Academy
21	1GK	Michael Acquaye	(2000-08-10) 10 August 2000	WAFA
2	2DF	John Otu	(2000-04-12) 12 April 2000	Dreams F.C.
3	2DF	Gideon Acquah	(2000-05-24) 24 May 2000	Bofoakwa Tano
4	2DF	Edmund Arko-Mensah	(2001-09-09) 9 September 2001	Wa All Stars
5	2DF	Najeeb Yakubu	(2000-05-01) 1 May 2000	New Town Youth
12	2DF	Abdul Razak Yusif	(2001-08-09) 9 August 2001	Koforidua Youth
14	2DF	Bismark Terry Owusu	(2000-10-31) 31 October 2000	Mandela Soccer Academy
15	2DF	Gideon Mensah	(2000-10-09) 9 October 2000	Right to Dream
17	2DF	Rashid Alhassan	(2000-06-20) 20 June 2000	Aduana Stars
7	3MF	Ibrahim Sulley	(2001-07-06) 6 July 2001	New Life F.C.
8	3MF	Mohammed Kudus	(2000-08-02) 2 August 2000	Right to Dream
10	3MF	Emmanuel Toku	(2000-07-10) 10 July 2000	Cheetah F.C.
13	3MF	Gabriel Leveh	(2000-04-01) 1 April 2000	Tema Youth
18	3MF	Mohammed Iddriss	(2000-07-26) 26 July 2000	Cheetah F.C.
19	3MF	Ibrahim Sadiq	(2000-05-07) 7 May 2000	Right to Dream
20	3MF	Isaac Gyamfi	(2000-09-09) 9 September 2000	New Life F.C.
6	4FW	Eric Ayiah	(2000-03-06) 6 March 2000	Charity Stars
9	4FW	Richard Danso	(2000-09-16) 16 September 2000	WAFA
11	4FW	Mohammed Aminu	(2000-08-10) 10 August 2000	WAFA

Previous squad

• 2017 FIFA under-17 World Cup (squads) – Ghana

• 2007 FIFA under-17 World Cup (squads) – Ghana

• 2005 FIFA under-17 World Cup (squads) – Ghana
• 1999 FIFA under-17 World Cup (squads) – Ghana
• 1997 FIFA under-17 World Cup (squads) – Ghana
• 1995 FIFA under-17 World Cup (squads) – Ghana
• 1993 FIFA under-17 World Cup (squads) – Ghana
• 1991 FIFA under-17 World Cup (squads) – Ghana

Technical Team

Position	Name	Nationality
Head coach	Ignatius Osei-Fosu	Ghanaian
Assistant coach	Opeele Boateng.	Ghanaian
Goalkeeping coach	Najau	Ghanaian
Team doctor	Dr. Andrews Ayim	Ghanaian
Physiotherapist	Jonathan Quartey	Ghanaian
Welfare Officer	Emmanuel N. Dasoberi	Ghanaian
Equipment Officer	John Ackon	Ghanaian

Competitive Record

FIFA U-17 World Cup Record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1985	did not participate
1987	did not qualify
1989	First round	3	0	2	1	2	3
1991	Champions	6	4	2*	0	8	3
1993	Runners-up	6	5	0	1	14	3
1995	Champions	6	6	0	0	13	4
1997	Runners-up	6	4	1	1	14	5
1999	Third place	6	4	2*	0	19	5
2001	did not qualify
2003
2005	First round	3	0	3	0	3	3
2007	Fourth place	7	4	0	3	13	9
2009	did not qualify
2011
2013
2015
2017	Quarterfinals	5	3	0	2	8	3
2019	did not qualify
2023
2025
Total	9/20	48	30	10	8	94	38

Africa U-17 Cup of Nations Record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1995	Champions	5	5	0	0	16	1
1997	Third place	5	3	0	2	9	6
1999	Champions	5	3	1	1	8	3
2001	did not qualify
2003
2005	Runners-up	5	3	0	2	7	5
2007	Third place	5	3	0	2	11	5
2009	did not qualify
2011
2013	Group stage	3	0	2	1	2	7
2015	Disqualified
2017	Runners-up	5	2	2*	1	9	1
2019	did not qualify
2023
2025
Total	7/15	33	19	5	9	62	28

CAF U-16 and U-17 World Cup Qualifiers record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	GD
1985	did not participate
1987	Second round	2	0	2	0	1	1	0
1989	Third round	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2
1991	Fourth round	5	3	1	1	8	3	+5
1993	Final Round	4	4	0	0	9	1	+8
Total	4/5	15	9	4	2	23	8	+15

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Team honours

• FIFA U-17 World Cup winners: 2

1991, 1995

• FIFA U-17 World Cup runners-up: 2

1993, 1997

• FIFA U-17 World Cup third place: 1

1999

• Africa U-17 Cup of Nations winners: 2

1995, 1999

• Africa U-17 Cup of Nations runners-up: 2

2005, 2017

• Africa U-17 Cup of Nations third place: 2

1997, 2007

Awards

Golden Shoe

Tournament	FIFA Golden Shoe Award	Player
1999	Golden Shoe Award	Ishmael Addo
1991	Silver Shoe Award	Nii Odartey Lamptey
2007	Silver Shoe Award	Ransford Osei
1997	Bronze Shoe Award	Owusu Afriyie

Golden Ball

Tournament	FIFA Golden Ball Winner
1991	Nii Odartey Lamptey
1993	Daniel Addo

Notable players

The following list consist of previous Ghana U-17 national team players who have won or were influential at the FIFA U-17 World Cup with the Ghana U-17 national team or the FIFA U-20 World Cup with the Ghana U-20 national team, and those who were part of the Ghana U-23 national team that won the bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. The list also includes the players who have graduated from the Ghana U-20 national team and gone on to represent the senior Ghana national team at the FIFA World Cup or African Cup of Nations:

• Nii Odartey Lamptey (1991)
• Mohammed Gargo (1991)
• Yaw Preko (1991)
• Daniel Addo (1991, 1993)
• Samuel Kuffour (1991, 1993)
• Mark Edusei (1991, 1993)
• Charles Akunnor (1993)
• Emmanuel Duah (1991, 1993)
• Isaac Asare (1991)
• Mohammed Gargo (1991)
• Christian Gyan (1995)
• Awudu Issaka (1995)
• Stephen Appiah (1995)
• Emmanuel Bentil (1995)
• Daniel Quaye (1997)
• Laryea Kingston (1997)
• Hamza Mohammed (1997)
• Owusu Afriyie (1997)
• Razak Pimpong (1999)
• Michael Essien (1999)
• Anthony Obodai (1999)
• Ibrahim Abdul Razak (1999)
• Ishmael Addo (1999)
• Sadat Bukari (2005)
• Opoku Agyemang (2005)
• Razak Salifu (2005)
• Jonathan Quartey (2005)
• Samuel Inkoom (2005)
• David Telfer (2005)
• Mubarak Wakaso (2005)
• Ransford Osei (2007)
• Daniel Opare (2007)
• Sadick Adams (2007)
• Abeiku Quansah (2007)
• Tetteh Nortey (2007)

Notable coaches

FIFA Tourney	Manager name
1991	Otto Pfister
1993	Isaac Paha
1995	Sam Arday
1997	Emmanuel Kwesi Afranie
1999	Jones Attuquayefio
2005	David Duncan
2007	Sellas Tetteh
Four Nations Tournament	Emmanuel Kwesi Afranie
2017	Paa Kwesi Fabin

See also

• Ghana national football team
• Ghana national U23 football team
• Ghana national U20 football team

External links

• 2007 U17 World Cup Tournament Page
• Ghana Football Association – Official website
• Ghana Premier League website
• Ghanaweb Sports Page
• RSSSF Archive of all FIFA U17 Matches
• RSSSF Archive of all African U17 Matches
• 2005 African U17 Final Controversy Video