Ghana national football team

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.[5] 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.

Ghana

Nickname(s)	Black Stars
Association	Ghana Football Association (GFA)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	WAFU (West Africa)
Head coach	Charles Akonnor
Captain	André Ayew
Most caps	Asamoah Gyan (109)
Top scorer	Asamoah Gyan (51)
FIFA code	GHA
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	52 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest	14 (February 2008, April–May 2008)
Lowest	89 (June 2004)
First international
Gold Coast and 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
Appearances	3 (first in 2006)
Best result	Quarter-finals, 2010
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	22 (first in 1963)
Best result	Champions, 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982
African Nations Championship
Appearances	3 (first in 2009)
Best result	Second place, 2009, 2014

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[6] (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.

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.[7]

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.[8]

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,[9] 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.[10]

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.[11]

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.[12]

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.[13] Ghana was drawn in Group G for the finals, where they faced Germany, Portugal, and the United States.[14] 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

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.[15]

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.[16][17]

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.[18]

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

Kit suppliers

Kit supplier	Period
Erima	1991–1992
Adidas	1992–2000
Kappa	2000–2005
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.[19]

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.[20]

Organization and finance

The Black Stars as it stands now has no official head because of corrupt practices by the then president, Kwesi Nyantakyi.[21] and vice-president George Afriyie,[22] with Frank Davis as director of football, and Edward Bawa as treasurer.[23] 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,[24][25] following the gold mining corporations Ashanti Goldfields Corporation and Goldfields Ghana Limited (GGL), which had been sponsoring the Black Stars since 2005.[26]

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.[27] 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.[28]

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.[29] 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.[30] The match was watched by 700 million people around the world.[30]

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.[31]

Rivalries

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.[32] 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.[32][33]

In books and popular culture

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!,[34] 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;[35] 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",[36] who invested a lot of energy into making Ghana's association football national team – the Black Stars – a force in African football.[37]
• 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.[37]
• 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.[38] Black Stars goal celebrations in match victories at the 2014 World Cup and upon scoring against opposition teams, are to establish and showcase Alkayida.[39]
• 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.[40] 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.[41]

Coaching staff

see also : Ghana national football team manager

As of 15 December 2020

Current technical staff

Head Coach	Charles Kwabla Akonnor
Assistant Coach	David Duncan
Technical Director	Berhnard Lippert
Dietician	Renee Opare-Otoo
Goalkeeper Coach	Najawu Issah
Goalkeeper Coach	Simon Addo
Equipment Officers	Daniel Yankey, Suleman Zampa
Welfare Officer	Henry Martey
Technical Coordinator	Stephen Appiah
Technical Coordinator	Franklin Appiah
Technical Coordinator	Joseph Asamoah
Head Scout	Otto Addo
Masseurs	Samuel Ankomah, George Nii Anum Amasa
Physiotherapists	Colonel Ofosu Anim
	Ralph Frank
Head Psychologist	Professor Joseph Mintah
Head Doctor	Prof. Dr.Chris Adomako
Video Analysts	Michael Okyere, Edward Acheampong
Business Manager	Anthony Baffoe
Head Scout	George Boateng
Dentist	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.[42] Fred Osam Duodu led the Black Stars to their 1978 Africa Cup of Nations title;[43] Ratomir Dujković, Milovan Rajevac, and James Kwesi Appiah, have all led the Black Stars to World Cup qualification.[44][45]

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.[46][47][48]
Caps and goals updated as 17 November 2020 after the match against Sudan.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Fatau Dauda	6 April 1985	25	0	Legon Cities
	GK	Lawrence Ati-Zigi	29 November 1996	3	0	St. Gallen
	GK	Razak Abalora	4 September 1996	2	0	Asante Kotoko
	DF	John Boye	23 April 1987	70	6	Metz
	DF	Baba Rahman	2 July 1994	30	0	Chelsea
	DF	Andy Yiadom	2 December 1991	11	0	Reading
	DF	Nicholas Opoku	11 August 1997	10	0	Amiens
	DF	Joseph Aidoo	29 September 1995	7	0	Celta Vigo
	DF	Joseph Attamah	22 May 1994	6	0	Kayserispor
	DF	Alexander Djiku	9 August 1994	4	0	Strasbourg
	DF	Gideon Mensah	18 July 1998	4	0	Vitória de Guimarães
	DF	Christopher Nettey	17 July 1998	2	0	Asante Kotoko
	DF	Benson Anang	1 May 2000	1	0	Žilina
	DF	Kwadwo Amoako	21 December 1998	0	0	Ashanti Gold
	MF	André Ayew (Captain)	17 December 1989	91	19	Swansea City
	MF	Mubarak Wakaso	25 July 1990	59	12	Jiangsu Suning
	MF	Afriyie Acquah	5 January 1992	38	1	Yeni Malatyaspor
	MF	Jeffrey Schlupp	23 December 1992	19	1	Crystal Palace
	MF	Samuel Owusu	28 March 1996	13	1	Al-Ahli
	MF	Tariqe Fosu	5 November 1995	4	1	Brentford
	MF	Emmanuel Lomotey	19 December 1997	3	0	Amiens
	MF	Majeed Ashimeru	10 October 1997	1	0	Red Bull Salzburg
	MF	Clifford Aboagye	11 February 1995	0	0	Puebla
	FW	Jordan Ayew	11 September 1991	65	17	Crystal Palace
	FW	Caleb Ekuban	23 March 1994	8	3	Trabzonspor
	FW	John Antwi	6 August 1992	1	0	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	1 November 1993	22	0	Orlando Pirates	v.  Sudan, 12 November 2020 ^SUS
GK	Richard Attah	9 April 1995	0	0	Hearts of Oak	v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 ^CNC
DF	Harrison Afful	24 June 1986	84	0	Columbus Crew	v.  Sudan, 12 November 2020 ^WD
DF	Kasim Nuhu	22 June 1995	11	2	1899 Hoffenheim	v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
DF	Yakubu Mohammed	7 June 1996	1	0	Azam	v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
DF	Lumor Agbenyenu	15 August 1996	14	0	Sporting CP	v.  Mali, 9 October 2020 ^WD
DF	Habib Mohammed	4 July 1997	0	0	Asante Kotoko	v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 ^CNC
MF	Thomas Partey	13 June 1993	30	10	Arsenal	v.  Sudan, 12 November 2020 ^INJ
MF	Iddrisu Baba	22 January 1996	3	0	Mallorca	v.  Sudan, 12 November 2020 ^INJ
MF	Jamie Leweling	26 February 2001	0	0	Greuther Fürth	v.  Sudan, 12 November 2020 ^WD
MF	Bernard Mensah	17 October 1994	5	1	Beşiktaş	v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
MF	Joseph Paintsil	1 February 1998	4	3	Ankaragücü	v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
MF	Kamaldeen Sulemana	15 February 2002	2	0	Nordsjælland	v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
MF	Alfred Duncan	10 March 1993	10	0	Cagliari	v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 ^CNC
MF	Christopher Antwi-Adjei	7 February 1994	1	0	Paderborn 07	v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 ^CNC
FW	Eugene Ansah	16 December 1994	1	0	Ironi Kiryat Shmona	v.  Qatar, 12 October 2020
FW	Mohammed Kudus	2 August 2000	2	1	Ajax	v.  Mali, 9 October 2020 ^INJ
FW	Richmond Boakye	28 January 1993	13	5	Red Star Belgrade	v.  Sudan, 27 March 2020 ^CNC
FW	Yahaya Mohammed	17 February 1988	1	0	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

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.[49] 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.[49]

Under-20

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

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.[50] 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.[51] 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
1957	Part of United Kingdom
1959	Not affiliated to CAF
1962	Did not qualify
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
1970	Second place	2nd	5	2	2	1	6	4
1972	Did not qualify
1974
1976
1978	Champions	1st	5	4	1	0	9	2
1980	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	1	1
1982	Champions	1st	5	2	3	0	7	5
1984	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	2	4
1986	Did not qualify
1988
1990
1992	Runners-up	2nd	5	4	1	0	6	2
1994	Quarter-finals	5th	3	2	0	1	3	2
1996	Fourth place	4th	6	4	0	2	7	5
1998	Group stage	11th	3	1	0	2	3	3
2000	Quarter-finals	8th	4	1	1	2	3	4
2002	Quarter-finals	7th	4	1	2	1	2	2
2004	Did not qualify
2006	Group stage	10th	3	1	0	2	2	3
2008	Third place	3rd	6	5	0	1	11	5
2010	Runners-up	2nd	5	3	0	2	4	4
2012	Fourth place	4th	6	3	1	2	6	5
2013	Fourth place	4th	6	3	2	1	10	6
2015	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	1	1	10	3
2017	Fourth place	4th	6	3	0	3	4	5
2019	Round of 16	12th	4	1	3	0	5	3
2021	To be determined
2023
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 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	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.

African Games Record
Year	Result	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1965	-	0	0	0	0	0	0
1973	-	0	0	0	0	0	0
1978	-	0	0	0	0	0	0
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

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 * Gold background colour indicates that the team won the tournament. **Red border color indicates the team was a host nation. Note: The tournament was not held in 1985.

West African Football Union Nations Cup Record Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA GD 2010 Semi-final Third place 5 4 0 1 11 3 +8 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

Olympic record

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
Athens 1896	No association football competition
Paris 1900	At the 1900 and 1904 Olympics, clubs competed.
St. Louis 1904
London 1908	The Gold Coast team did not participate
Stockholm 1912
Antwerp 1920
Paris 1924
Amsterdam 1928
Los Angeles 1932	No association football competition
Berlin 1936	The Gold Coast team did not participate
London 1948
Helsinki 1952	Did not participate ^[a]
Melbourne 1956
Rome 1960	Did not qualify
Tokyo 1964	Quarter-final	7th	4	1	1	2	7	12
Mexico 1968	Round 1	12th	3	0	2	1	6	8
Munich 1972	Round 1	16th	3	0	0	3	1	11
Montreal 1976	Withdrew after qualifying
Moscow 1980
Los Angeles 1984	Did not qualify
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

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.[52] The Black Stars had the youngest team in the 2006 edition with an average age of 23 years and 352 days,[52] and were praised for their improving performance.[53][54] FIFA ranked Ghana 13th out of the 32 countries who competed in the tournament.[55]

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.[56] Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2010 edition, FIFA ranked Ghana 7th.[57]

After beating Egypt 7–3 on aggregate in November 2013, Ghana qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.[58] They were drawn in Group G with Germany, the United States and Portugal.[59] 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.[60]

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
1930	Did not enter
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962	Did not qualify
1966	Withdrew
1970	Did not qualify
1974
1978
1982	Withdrew
1986	Did not qualify
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006	Round of 16	13th	4	2	0	2	4	6
2010	Quarter-finals	7th	5	2	2	1	5	4
2014	Group stage	25th	3	0	1	2	4	6
2018	Did not qualify
2022	To be determined
2026
Total	Quarter-finals	3/21	12	4	3	5	13	16

Honours

Last updated 8 February 2015

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

Continental Subregion

• Nkrumah Cup[61]

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

Other tournaments and cups

• Ugandan Independence Tournament[62]

Winners: 1962

• Pestabola Merdeka[63]

Runners up: 1982

• Samuel K. Doe Cup 1986[64]

Runners up: 1986

• Black Stars Tournament 1993 (Libreville, Gabon)[65]

Third: 1993

• Great Artificial River Championship 1999 (Libya)[66]

Runners up: 1999

• LG Cup[67]

Third: 2003

Other awards

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

Results and fixtures

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

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	Partey  36' Kudus  80'			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			Ayew  50' (pen.)	Stadium: Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho

2020

9 October 2020 Friendly	Mali	3–0	Ghana	Side, Turkey
19:00 (UTC+3)	H. Traoré  3' Touré  49' Haidara  75'	Report		Stadium: Emirhan Sport Center Stadium

12 October 2020 Friendly	Ghana	5–1	Qatar	Aksu, Turkey
15:30 (UTC+3)	Fosu  22' A. Ayew  63', 83' Owusu  65' Ekuban  87'	Report	Ali  44'	Stadium: Mardan Sports Complex

12 November 2020 2021 AFCON Q	Ghana	2–0	Sudan	Cape Coast, Ghana
16:00 UTC±0	A. Ayew  19', 81'	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 [68]

Players in bold are still active.

Most capped players # Name Caps Goals Career 1 Asamoah Gyan 109 51 2003–present 2 Richard Kingson 93 1 1996–2011 3 John Paintsil 91 0 2001–2013 André Ayew 19 2007–present 5 Harrison Afful 84 0 2008–present Sulley Muntari 20 2002–2014 7 John Mensah 81 3 2001–2012 8 Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu 79 11 2008–present 9 Kwadwo Asamoah 74 4 2008–present 10 Karim Abdul Razak 73 25 1975–1988 Abedi "Pele" Ayew 19 1981–1998

Most goals scored # Name Goals Caps Ratio Career 1 Asamoah Gyan 51 109 0.47 2003–present 2 Edward Acquah 45 41 1.1 1956–1964 3 Kwasi Owusu 36 45 0.8 1968–1976 4 Karim Abdul Razak 25 62 0.4 1975–1988 5 Wilberforce Mfum 20 26 0.77 1960–1968 Sulley Muntari 84 0.24 2002–2014 7 Osei Kofi 19 25 0.76 1964–1973 Abedi "Pele" Ayew 73 0.26 1982–1998 Andre Ayew 91 0.21 2007–present 10 Jordan Ayew 17 63 0.27 2009–present

Asamoah Gyan is the most capped player with 109 appearances, and top scorer with 51 goals

See also

• Ghana Player of the year
• Ghana Women's national team

[69]

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Titles chronology

Last updated 28 November 2013

External links

• Ghana Football Association official site
• Ghana List of International Matches at RSSSF
• GSN
• Ghana at FIFA.com