Ghana national football team

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Ghana
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Black Stars
Association Ghana Football Association (GFA)
Confederation CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation WAFU (West Africa)
Head coach Avram Grant
Captain Asamoah Gyan
Most caps Asamoah Gyan (100)
Top scorer Asamoah Gyan (49)
FIFA code GHA
First colours
Second colours
Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current 54 Decrease 1 (12 January 2017)
Highest 14 (February 2008, April–May 2008)
Lowest 89 (June 2004)
Elo ranking
Current 60 Decrease 8 (25 January 2017)
Highest 13 (30 June 1966)
Lowest 97 (14 June 2004)
First international
 Gold Coast and United Kingdom British Togoland 1–0 Nigeria 
(Accra, British Gold Coast; 28 May 1950)
Biggest win
Unofficial:
 Nyasaland 0–12 Ghana 
(Nyasaland; 12 October 1962)[1]
Official:
 Kenya 2–13 Ghana 
(Nairobi, Kenya; 12 December 1965)[1][2]
Biggest defeat
 Bulgaria 10–0 Ghana 
(Leon, Mexico; 14 October 1968)[3]
World Cup
Appearances 3 (first in 2006)
Best result Quarter-finals, 2010
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances 20 (first in 1963)
Best result Champions, 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982

The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in international association football and has done so since the 1950s. The team is nicknamed the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa in the Flag of Ghana. It is administered 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.

Although the team did not qualify for the senior FIFA World Cup until 2006 where they qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time, 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[4] (in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982) and has been runner-up 5 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[edit]

Chronicles and rebirth[edit]

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

The Gold Coast Football Association was founded in 1920 then succeeded by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) in 1957, and was 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.[5]

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.[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 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.

Continuum[edit]

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

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.[10][10] Ghana was drawn in Group G for the finals, where they faced Germany, Portugal, and the United States.[11] 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.

Team image[edit]

Grounds and training grounds[edit]

Kumasi Sports Stadium
Lizzy Sports Complex

There is no home stadium for the Black Stars (Ghana national football team). 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.[12]

Media coverage[edit]

The Ghanaian nationals are 83% are Akan-speakers, and about 21% 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 Viasat 1; and during the scheduled qualification for World Cup 2014 national broadcaster GTV sub-division of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) broadcast to the Ghana public home qualifiers with away qualifiers broadcast by the satellite television broadcasting corporation Viasat 1, in which the exhibition 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.[13]

Kit and team crest[edit]

Ghana home shirt: 1970s–1980s
Ghana home kit 2008.svg
Ghana away kit 2008.svg
Black Stars 2008 Africa Cup of Nations 1st and 2nd kits
Manufacturer Period
Adidas 1957–2000
Kappa 2000–2005
Puma 2005–

The black star is present on the Flag of Ghana and national coat of arms in the center of the primordial national crest. Adopted following the independence of Ghana in 1957, the black star has always been included in its kits.[6] The Black Stars' kits were sponsored by Puma SE from 2005, with the deal ending in 2014.[14]

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

The Ghana national football team (The Black Stars) introduced the kit colour to coordinate with the national flag of Ghana and was worn from the years 1990 to 2006 designed with the national colours gold with green and red visibly decorated on its kits, as in the team's crest and in general, Pan-African colours. The gold with green and red kit concept and design was also used in the sixties and seventies, and designed with vertical stripes gold-green and red shoulders with introduction of an all black 2nd kit in 2008 aligning the team's symbol of continuity; Black Star 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.[15][16]

The Ghana national football team (The Black Stars) football kit is ranked as the best conceptual artistic and designed football kit of any other football team.[17]

The current kit man for the Ghanaian Football Association is Andrew Strong.

Organization and finance[edit]

The Black Stars are headed by president of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi,[18] and vice-president George Afriyie,[19] with Frank Davis as director of football, and Edward Bawa as treasurer.[20] The Ghana Football Association (GFA) signed a CN¥92.2 million ($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,[21][22] following the gold mining corporations Ashanti Goldfields Corporation and Goldfields Ghana Limited (GGL), which had been sponsoring the Black Stars since 2005.[23]

On 28 August 2013, Ghana Football Association (GFA) launched its TV Channel and TV programmed called "GFA TV", thus becoming the first football association on the Africa continent to launch its own TV programme and TV network which has the exclusive rights and television rights to the broadcasting of all the Black Stars' matches.[24] 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 100% wholly owned Ghanaian state-run private banking institution UniBank.[25]

Supporters[edit]

The Black Stars maintain an average stadium match attendance of 60,000+ and an average stadium 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.[26] 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.[27] The match was watched by 700 million people around the world.[27]

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.[28]

Rivalries[edit]

Main article: Ghana-Nigeria football rivalry
Ghana vs. Nigeria in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations Quarter-Final

The Black Stars' (Ghana national football team) main footballing rivalry is with the Super Eagles (Nigeria national football team). The "Battle of Supremacy on the Gulf of Guinea" is between two of the most successful teams on the African continent.[29] The proximity of the two countries to each other, a dispute between the different association football competitions and a non-sporting dispute between Ghana and Nigeria in which Ghana battles Nigeria in contention for the supremacy of the whole of West Africa zone add to this rivalry.[29]

In books and popular culture[edit]

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 participation in major tournaments. Ghana, The Rediscovered Soccer Might: Watch Out World!,[30] 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: The Black Stars of Ghana' by Alan Whelan;[31] about Black Stars commencing their progress through the final rounds of the 2010 World Cup and into the quarter-finals: The Principles of Modern Soccer Coaching' by Ben Koufie,[32] about the association football tactics and skills and principles involved in winning association football matches by Ghanaian FIFA and CAF executive Ben Koufie.[33]
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",[34] who invested a lot of energy into making Ghana's association football national team – the Black Stars – a force in African football.[35]
  • 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 organizer 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.[35]
  • 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.[36] Black Stars goal celebrations in match victories at the 2014 World Cup and upon scoring against opposition teams, are to establish and showcase Alkayida.[37]
  • Songs: On occasions of past World Championships or African Championships, a number of Ghanaian musicians with music producers created generic hiplife 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.[38] 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.[39]

Personnel[edit]

Current technical staff[edit]

Head Coach Israel Avram Grant
Assistant Coach Ghana Maxwell Konadu
Assistant Coach Spain Gerard Nus
Fitness Coach Jamaica Jamie Lawrence
Technical Coordinator Ghana Francis Oti Akenteng
Head Scout Ghana Otto Addo
Head Masseur Ghana Samuel Ankomah
Physiotherapists Ghana Colonel Ofosu Anim
Ghana Ralph Frank
Head Psychologist Ghana Prof. Joseph Mintah
Head Doctor Ghana Prof. Dr. Adam Baba
Equipment Manager Ghana Ismail Amidu
Other backroom staff Ghana [[]]

Last updated: October 2014
Source: Ghana Football Association official website

Former Head coaches[edit]

Since 1957 Ghana has had thirty-two 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.[40] Fred Osam Duodu led the Black Stars to their 1978 Africa Cup of Nations title;[41] Ratomir Dujković, Milovan Rajevac, and James Kwesi Appiah, have all led the Black Stars to World Cup qualification.[42][43]


Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

The following players were selected for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations[44]
Caps and goals as of 29 January 2017 after the match against DR Congo.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Brimah Razak (1987-06-22) 22 June 1987 (age 29) 27 0 Spain Córdoba
16 1GK Fatau Dauda (1986-04-06) 6 April 1986 (age 30) 25 0 Ghana Ashanti Gold
12 1GK Richard Ofori (1993-11-01) 1 November 1993 (age 23) 2 0 Ghana All Stars
23 2DF Harrison Afful (1986-06-24) 24 June 1986 (age 30) 75 0 United States Columbus Crew
4 2DF Jonathan Mensah (1990-07-13) 13 July 1990 (age 26) 56 1 United States Columbus Crew
21 2DF John Boye (1987-04-23) 23 April 1987 (age 29) 58 4 Turkey Sivasspor
17 2DF Baba Rahman (1994-07-02) 2 July 1994 (age 22) 26 0 Germany Schalke 04
22 2DF Frank Acheampong (1993-10-16) 16 October 1993 (age 23) 17 2 Belgium Anderlecht
18 2DF Daniel Amartey (1994-12-01) 1 December 1994 (age 22) 17 0 England Leicester City
19 2DF Edwin Gyimah (1991-03-09) 9 March 1991 (age 25) 10 0 South Africa Orlando Pirates
2 2DF Andy Yiadom (1991-12-02) 2 December 1991 (age 25) 1 0 England Barnsley
8 3MF Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (1990-12-02) 2 December 1990 (age 26) 76 11 Italy Udinese
7 3MF Christian Atsu (1992-01-10) 10 January 1992 (age 25) 53 10 England Newcastle United
11 3MF Wakaso Mubarak (1990-07-25) 25 July 1990 (age 26) 49 12 Spain Granada
6 3MF Afriyie Acquah (1992-01-05) 5 January 1992 (age 25) 28 1 Italy Torino
15 3MF Samuel Tetteh (1996-07-28) 28 July 1996 (age 20) 8 1 Austria FC Liefering
5 3MF Thomas Partey (1993-06-13) 13 June 1993 (age 23) 8 0 Spain Atlético Madrid
13 3MF Ebenezer Ofori (1995-07-01) 1 July 1995 (age 21) 0 0 Germany VfB Stuttgart
3 4FW Asamoah Gyan (Captain) (1985-11-22) 22 November 1985 (age 31) 100 49 United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli
10 4FW André Ayew (Vice-captain) (1989-12-17) 17 December 1989 (age 27) 75 14 England West Ham United
9 4FW Jordan Ayew (1991-09-11) 11 September 1991 (age 25) 46 12 Wales Swansea City
20 4FW Ebenezer Assifuah (1993-07-03) 3 July 1993 (age 23) 1 0 France Le Havre
14 4FW Bernard Tekpetey (1997-09-03) 3 September 1997 (age 19) 1 0 Germany Schalke 04

Recent call-ups[edit]

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 Adam Kwarasey (1987-12-12) 12 December 1987 (age 29) 24 0 Denmark Brøndby 2017 Africa Cup INJ, 4 January 2017
DF Jeff Schlupp (1992-12-23) 23 December 1992 (age 24) 15 1 England Crystal Palace v.  Egypt, 13 November 2016
DF David Addy (1990-02-21) 21 February 1990 (age 26) 8 0 India Delhi Dynamos FC v.  Mauritius, 6 June 2016
MF Joseph Larweh Attamah (1994-05-22) 22 May 1994 (age 22) 0 0 Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir 2017 Africa Cup PRE, 4 January 2017
MF Alhassan Wakaso (1992-01-07) 7 January 1992 (age 25) 0 0 Portugal Rio Ave v.  Egypt, 13 November 2016
MF Enoch Kofi Adu (1990-11-14) 14 November 1990 (age 26) 1 0 Turkey Akhisar Belediyespor v.  South Africa, 8 October 2016
MF Gilbert Koomson (1994-09-09) 9 September 1994 (age 22) 1 0 Norway Sogndal v.  South Africa, 8 October 2016
MF Alfred Duncan (1993-03-10) 10 March 1993 (age 23) 4 0 Italy Sassuolo v.  Mauritius, 6 June 2016
FW Majeed Waris (1991-09-19) 19 September 1991 (age 25) 27 4 France Lorient 2017 Africa Cup PRE, 4 January 2017
FW Raphael Dwamena (1995-09-12) 12 September 1995 (age 21) 0 0 Austria Lustenau 2017 Africa Cup PRE, 4 January 2017
FW David Accam (1990-09-28) 28 September 1990 (age 26) 9 1 United States Chicago Fire v.  South Africa, 8 October 2016
FW Patrick Twumasi (1994-05-09) 9 May 1994 (age 22) 0 0 Kazakhstan Astana v.  Mauritius, 6 June 2016
Notes
  • DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up.
  • INJ Withdrew because of injury.
  • PRE Preliminary squad.
  • RET Player has retired from international football.
  • SUS Suspended from the national team.

Youth teams[edit]

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

Under-23[edit]

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.[45] 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.[45]

Under-20[edit]

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[edit]

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.[46] They also twice won the African U-17 Championship.

Competitive records[edit]

Black Stars at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations

Africa Cup of Nations record[edit]

Ghana has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times – in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982 – equal with Cameroon and bettered only by Egypt. As the first winner of three Nations Cup tournaments, Ghana obtained the right to permanently hold the trophy in 1978.[47] The Black Stars have qualified for the tournament 20 times in total, finishing as runners-up five times, third once, and fourth three times. Thus, Ghana has the most final game appearances at the tournament with nine, essentially making the final in half of its appearances in the tournament. Ghana also holds the record of most consecutive semi-final appearances with five straight between 2008 and 2015.

Africa Cup of Nations Record
Africa Cup of Nations Record GP W D L GF GA GD
Africa Cup of Nations Finals 92 52 17 20 123 71 +48
Africa Cup of Nations
Titles: 4
Appearances: 21
Year Position Year Position Year Position Year Position
Sudan 1957 Did not enter Ghana 1978 Champions Burkina Faso 1998 Round 1 Gabon 2017 Quarter-Finals
Egypt 1959 Did not enter Nigeria 1980 Round 1 GhanaNigeria 2000 Quarter-finals Cameroon 2019 TBD
Ethiopia 1962 Did not qualify Libya 1982 Champions Mali 2002 Quarter-finals Ivory Coast 2021 TBD
Ghana 1963 Champions Ivory Coast 1984 Round 1 Tunisia 2004 Did not qualify Guinea 2023 TBD
Tunisia 1965 Champions Egypt 1986 Did not qualify Egypt 2006 Round 1
Ethiopia 1968 Second place Morocco 1988 Did not qualify Ghana 2008 Third place
Sudan 1970 Second place Algeria 1990 Did not qualify Angola 2010 Second place
Cameroon 1972 Did not qualify Senegal 1992 Second place* GabonEquatorial Guinea 2012 Fourth place
Egypt 1974 Did not qualify Tunisia 1994 Quarter-finals South Africa 2013 Fourth place
Ethiopia 1976 Did not qualify South Africa 1996 Fourth place Equatorial Guinea 2015 Second place*
*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[edit]

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

Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA Squad
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast 2009 Runner-up 2nd 5 1 3 1 8 6 Team
Sudan Sudan 2011 Round 1 14th 3 0 0 3 1 4 Team
South Africa South Africa 2014 Runner-up 2nd 6 3 3 0 4 1 Team
Rwanda Rwanda 2016 Did not qualify
Total 3/3 4th 14 4 6 4 13 11 3

West African Nations Cup and WAFU Nations Cup record[edit]

Olympic record[edit]

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
Germany Munich 1972 Round 1 16th 3 0 0 3 1 11
Canada Montreal 1976 Round 1 (Did not participate)
Soviet Union Moscow 1980 Did not qualify
United States Los Angeles 1984
South Korea Seoul 1988
Spain Barcelona 1992 Since 1992 olympic football is competed by U-23 [n]
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.

World Cup record[edit]

Main article: Ghana at the FIFA World Cup

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 FIFA World Cup in Germany and was the sixth nation in a row from Africa to progress beyond the group stages of the World Cup.[48] The Black Stars had the youngest team in the FIFA World Cup 2006 with an average age of 23 years and 352 days,[48] and were praised for their improving performance.[49][50] FIFA ranked Ghana 13th out of the 32 countries who competed in the tournament.[51]

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.[52] Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, FIFA ranked Ghana 7th.[53]

After beating Egypt 7–3 on aggregate in November 2013, Ghana qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.[54] They were drawn in Group G with Germany, USA and Portugal.[55] 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.[56]

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
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) 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 to 1958 Did not enter
Chile 1962 Did not qualify
England 1966 Withdrew
1970 to 1978 Did not qualify
Spain 1982 Withdrew
1986 to 2002 Did not qualify
Germany 2006 Round of 16 13th 4 2 0 2 4 6
South Africa 2010 Quarter-final 7th 5 2 2 1 5 4
Brazil 2014 Group stage 25th 3 0 1 2 4 6
Russia 2018 To Be Determined
Total Quarter-Final 3/20 12 4 3 5 13 16

Team honours[edit]

Last updated 8 February 2015

Continental tournaments[edit]

Winners (4): Gold medal africa.svg 1963, Gold medal africa.svg 1965, Gold medal africa.svg 1978, Gold medal africa.svg 1982
Runners-up (5): Silver medal africa.svg 1968, Silver medal africa.svg 1970, Silver medal africa.svg 1992, Silver medal africa.svg 2010, Silver medal africa.svg 2015
Runners-up (2): 2nd, silver medalist(s) 2009, 2nd, silver medalist(s) 2014

Continental Subregion[edit]

Winners (4): 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959
Runners-up (4): 1951, 1954, 1956, 1958
Winners (3): 1959, 1960, 1963
Winners (5): 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967
Winners (5): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987
Third place (1): 1991
Winner (1): 2013
Third place (1): 2010

Other Tournaments and Cups[edit]

  • Uganda Independence Tournament 1962[60]
Winner: 1962
  • Independence Cup 1964 (Zambia)[61]
Winner: 1964
Runners up: 1982
  • Addis Abeba 25th Anniversary Tournament 1983[63]
Winner: 1983
  • Burkina Faso Tournoi Amical[64]
Winner: 1984
  • Samuel K. Doe Cup 1986[65]
Runners up: 1986
  • Black Stars Tournament 1993 (Libreville, Gabon)[66]
Third: 1993
  • Egypt Tournament 1994[67]
Winner: 1994
  • Great Artificial River Championship 1999 (Libya)[68]
Runners up: 1999
Third: 2003
  • Four Nation Tournament[70]
Winner: 2007
  • Liberian Independence Anniversary Tournament 2010[71]
Winner: 2010

Other Awards[edit]

Results and fixtures[edit]

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

2016[edit]

2017[edit]

Records[edit]

Caps and goals updated as of January 29, 2017. Players in bold are still active at international level.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ghana (formerly Gold Coast) – List of International Matches. RSSSF
  2. ^ "Kenya International matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 April 2007. 
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Titles chronology[edit]

Last updated 28 November 2013

Achievements
Preceded by
1962 Ethiopia 		 African Champions
1963 (First title)
1965 (Second title)		 Succeeded by
1968 DR Congo 
Preceded by
1976 Morocco 		 African Champions
1978 (Third title)		 Succeeded by
1980 Nigeria 
Preceded by
1980 Nigeria 		 African Champions
1982 (Fourth title)		 Succeeded by
1984 Cameroon 
Preceded by
Inaugural Champions		 West African Champions
1982 (First title)
1983 (Second title)
1984 (Third title)
1986 (Fourth title)
1987 (Fifth title)		 Succeeded by
WAFU Nations Cup
Preceded by
2011 Togo 		 WAFU Nations Cup Champions
2013 (First title)		 Succeeded by
Incumbent

External links[edit]

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