Ghana national football team

Ghana national football team

The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international football. The team is named 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. Prior to 1957, it played as the Gold Coast.

Ghana qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in (/wiki/2006FIFAWorldCup). The team has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times ((/wiki/1963AfricanCupofNations), (/wiki/1965AfricanCupofNations), (/wiki/1978AfricanCupofNations), and (/wiki/1982AfricanCupofNations)), while finishing as runners-up five times ((/wiki/1968AfricanCupofNations), (/wiki/1970AfricanCupofNations), (/wiki/1992AfricanCupofNations), (/wiki/2010AfricaCupofNations), and (/wiki/2015AfricaCupofNations)). They have also qualified for the CHAN four times, finishing as runners-up twice ((/wiki/2009AfricanNationsChampionship) and (/wiki/2014AfricanNationsChampionship)).

In 2009, Ghana achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first African nation to win the FIFA U-20 World Cup, defeating Brazil in the final in Egypt.

As at November 20, 2025, Ghana ranked 72nd in the world and 17th among African football nations.

History

Ghana national football team

On 19 August 1962 at the Accra Sports Stadium, Ghana hosted Real Madrid, who were at the time Spanish champions, drawing 3–3.

Charles Kumi Gyamfi became coach in 1961, leading Ghana to successive African Cup of Nations titles, in (/wiki/1963AfricanCupofNations) and (/wiki/1965AfricanCupofNations). The Black Stars achieved their record win, 13–2 away to Kenya, in the latter. They reached the final of the tournament in (/wiki/1968AfricanCupofNations) and (/wiki/1970AfricanCupofNations), losing 1–0 on both occasions, to DR Congo and Sudan respectively. Their domination of the tournament earned them the nickname "the Black Stars of Africa" in the 1960s.

Fortunes changed for the Black Stars however, after they failed to qualify for three successive AFCONs in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, however, with emerging talents such as Abedi Pele, the Black Stars defeated 1982 AFCON hosts Libya in the final to win their fourth and to date, last continental title. Fortunes changed again however, as in the 1984 tournament, they were knocked out in the group stages, before failing to qualify for the 1986, 1988 and 1990 tournaments. In 1992, the Black Stars would finish runners-up to the Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout after a goalless draw, which saw every player on the pitch take a penalty, in which they were beaten 11-10, with African Footballer of the Year Abedi Pele suspended for the final.

Tensions among the squad led to the parliamentary and executive to intervene and settle issues between players Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah. In the 1990s, this may have played some part in the failure of the team to build on the successes of the national underage teams. However, the 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, going undefeated for a year in 2005 and qualifying for the final tournament of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The Black Stars started by succumbing to a 2–0 defeat to eventual champions Italy, and wins over Czech Republic (2–0) and the United States (2–1). This saw them advance through to the second round, where they lost 3–0 to Brazil.

Under head coach Milovan Rajevac, the Black Stars went on to secure a 100% win record in their qualification campaign, winning their group and becoming the first African team to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the final tournament, they were placed in Group D with Germany, Serbia and Australia, advancing to the round of 16 after finishing second in their group. They played the United States, winning 2–1 in extra time to become only the third African nation to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, before losing to Uruguay in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals, after Uruguayan forward Luis Suárez blocked a header with his hand in the penalty box in extra time and was sent off. Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty given for the handball, with the score 1–1. Ghana went on to lose the penalty shootout 4–2, twelve years before Morocco became the first African team to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup.

In 2013, Ghana became the first team to reach four consecutive African Cup of Nations semi-finals twice, with the first occasion between 1963 and 1970.

The Black Stars won their second round group of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying, and defeated Egypt 7–3 on aggregate in a two-legged play-off, qualifying for the finals. They were drawn in Group G for the finals, where they faced Germany, Portugal, and the United States. They exited in the group stage recording one draw against eventual champions Germany and two losses. However, they were the only team to not lose to Germany in the tournament, and the only team to hold onto a lead against the Germans at any point.

In the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, they reached the final, being denied the title on penalties against Ivory Coast. While their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations campaign ended in a 4th-place finish, they finished behind Egypt and Uganda in their final group qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. At the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, they were eliminated by Tunisia in the round of 16. In 2021, manager Rajevac was brought back, but the Black Stars ended up failing to win a match at the AFCON where they lost 2–3 to debutants the Comoros after an André Ayew red card to finish bottom of their group, failing to progress beyond the group stage for the first time since 2006. They drew 0–0 in a match against Nigeria and drew 1–1 in Nigeria to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup on away goals. During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Ghana lost their first match against Portugal 3–2. They earned their first and only victory in their second match against South Korea by the same scoreline. A victory against Uruguay was required for a spot in the round of 16 in a rematch of the 2010 quarter-final; Ghana instead lost 2–0 and thus finished bottom, while Uruguay was eliminated as well, as a result of South Korea upsetting Portugal.

Ghana failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, for the first time since 2004, as they finished bottom of the group below Angola, Sudan, and Niger. However, they compensated by qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, their fourth appearance, after gaining necessary wins against Mali and Madagascar despite inconsistency throughout the qualifiers.

Culture

Kits and crest

Home shirt: 1970s–1980s

The official jersey colours for the Black Stars are white for home games and yellow for away games.

Adopted following the independence of Ghana in 1957, the black star has been included in the Black Stars' kits. The Black Stars' kits were sponsored by Puma SE from 2005, with the deal ending in 2014.

Badge and anthem

Between 1990 and 2006 the Ghana national team used the kit in the colours of the national flag of Ghana, with gold, green and red used, 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 used in the 60s and 70s, 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.

The team's kit for the 2014 FIFA World Cup was ranked as the best kit of the tournament by BuzzFeed.

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

Grounds

The 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.

Organization and finance

The Black Stars had no official head because of "corrupt" practices by the then president, Kwesi Nyantakyi and vice-president George Afriyie, with Frank Davis as director of football, and Edward Bawa as treasurer. 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, following the gold mining corporations Ashanti Goldfields Corporation and Goldfields Ghana Limited (GGL), which had been sponsoring the Black Stars since 2005.

On 28 August 2013, Ghana Football Association (GFA) launched a TV channel and named GFA TV. The channel has the exclusive rights to broadcast all the Black Stars' matches. 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.

Supporters

Ghanaian supporters at the 2015 AFCON match between Ghana and Guinea

The Black Stars maintain an average stadium match attendance of over 60,000, with 84,017 watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final against Uruguay. 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. The match was watched by 700 million people around the world.

Following the team's appearances at the (/wiki/2006FIFAWorldCup) and 2010 World Cup tournaments, they were greeted by some hundred avid fans dancing and singing at Accra International Airport in Accra.

Rivalries

Ghana against Nigeria in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final

Ghana is rivals with Nigeria. The "Battle of Supremacy on the Gulf of Guinea" is between two of the "most successful teams on the African continent". 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. The match between these two countries is called the Jollof derby.

Media and arts

Match schedules are broadcast 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.

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

• Books: books have been published on the team's history and participation in tournaments. These include Ghana, The Rediscovered Soccer Might: Watch Out World!, about the history and performance of the Black Stars and association football national teams that the Black Stars have played against, and The Black Stars of Ghana by Alan Whelan; about Black Stars commencing their progress through the final rounds of the 2010 World Cup and into the quarter-finals. • 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", who invested energy into making Ghana's association football national team – the Black Stars – a force in African soccer. • 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 team its nicknames, the Black Stars of West Africa and the Black Stars of Africa. • Dances: upon the Black Stars scoring against opposition teams, dance forms of the Ghanaian Azonto were performed by Black Stars players in their goal celebrations in match victories at the 2010 World Cup and in 2013, an 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. Black Stars goal celebrations in match victories at the 2014 World Cup and upon scoring against opposition teams, are to establish and showcase Alkayida. • Songs: On occasions of past World Cups or African Championships, a number of 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 its quest for the capturing of the World Cup trophy. 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 "Asamoah Gyan Dance" goal celebration which he demonstrated at the 2010 World Cup. 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 GFA has indicated that the Black Stars are a protected brand.

Results and fixtures

Ghana national football team

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

Coaches

Ghana national football team

Position	Name
Head coach	Otto Addo
Assistant coach	Joseph Laumann
Assistant coach	John Paintsil
Goalkeeping coach	Fatau Dauda

History

Mali vs Ghana, exhibition game at Paris, 31 March 2015

Since 1957, the Ghanaian national football team has had 32 different head coaches and 3 caretakers. C. K. Gyamfi led the Black Stars to 3 Africa Cup of Nations titles – in (/wiki/1963AfricanCupofNations), (/wiki/1965AfricanCupofNations) and (/wiki/1982AfricanCupofNations) – making Gyamfi the "joint most successful coach" in the competition's history. Fred Osam Duodu led the Black Stars to their 1978 Africa Cup of Nations title; Ratomir Dujković, Milovan Rajevac, and James Kwesi Appiah have led the Black Stars to World Cup qualification, with the former two being Serbs. Otto Addo is the head coach of the Black Stars since 15 March 2024, replacing Chris Hughton.

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Austria and Germany on 27 and 30 March 2026; respectively. Caps and goals correct as of 30 March 2026, after the match against Germany.

<table><thead><tr><th>No.</th><th>Pos.</th><th>Player</th><th>Date of birth (age)</th><th>Caps</th><th>Goals</th><th>Club</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>GK</td><td>Lawrence Ati-Zigi</td><td>29 November 1996</td><td>28</td><td>0</td><td>St. Gallen</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>GK</td><td>Joseph Anang</td><td>8 June 2000</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td>St Patrick's Athletic</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>GK</td><td>Benjamin Asare</td><td>13 July 1992</td><td>9</td><td>0</td><td>Hearts of Oak</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>DF</td><td>Derrick Köhn</td><td>4 February 1999</td><td>3</td><td>0</td><td>Union Berlin</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>DF</td><td>Jonas Adjetey</td><td>13 December 2003</td><td>9</td><td>0</td><td>Wolfsburg</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>DF</td><td>Patric Pfeiffer</td><td>20 August 1999</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td>Darmstadt 98</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>DF</td><td>Gideon Mensah</td><td>18 July 1998</td><td>39</td><td>0</td><td>Auxerre</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>DF</td><td>Jerome Opoku</td><td>14 October 1998</td><td>10</td><td>1</td><td>İstanbul Başakşehir</td></tr><tr><td>21</td><td>DF</td><td>Kojo Peprah Oppong</td><td>4 June 2004</td><td>4</td><td>0</td><td>Nice</td></tr><tr><td>23</td><td>DF</td><td>Alexander Djiku</td><td>9 August 1994</td><td>38</td><td>4</td><td>Spartak Moscow</td></tr><tr><td>25</td><td>DF</td><td>Derrick Luckassen</td><td>3 July 1995</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td>Pafos</td></tr><tr><td>26</td><td>DF</td><td>Marvin Senaya</td><td>28 January 2001</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td>Auxerre</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>MF</td><td>Caleb Yirenkyi</td><td>15 January 2006</td><td>10</td><td>0</td><td>Nordsjælland</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>MF</td><td>Thomas Partey (vice-captain)</td><td>13 June 1993</td><td>56</td><td>15</td><td>Villarreal</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>MF</td><td>Kwasi Sibo</td><td>24 June 1998</td><td>7</td><td>0</td><td>Oviedo</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>MF</td><td>Ibrahim Sulemana</td><td>22 May 2003</td><td>7</td><td>0</td><td>Cagliari</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>MF</td><td>Elisha Owusu</td><td>7 November 1997</td><td>19</td><td>0</td><td>Auxerre</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>FW</td><td>Abdul Fatawu</td><td>8 March 2004</td><td>27</td><td>3</td><td>Leicester City</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>FW</td><td>Jordan Ayew (captain)</td><td>11 September 1991</td><td>117</td><td>33</td><td>Leicester City</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>FW</td><td>Antoine Semenyo</td><td>7 January 2000</td><td>34</td><td>3</td><td>Manchester City</td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>FW</td><td>Christopher Bonsu Baah</td><td>14 December 2004</td><td>8</td><td>0</td><td>Al-Qadsiah</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>FW</td><td>Prince Adu</td><td>23 September 2003</td><td>4</td><td>0</td><td>Viktoria Plzeň</td></tr><tr><td>22</td><td>FW</td><td>Kamaldeen Sulemana</td><td>15 February 2002</td><td>27</td><td>1</td><td>Atalanta</td></tr><tr><td>24</td><td>FW</td><td>Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer</td><td>13 September 2001</td><td>7</td><td>0</td><td>Hamburg</td></tr><tr><td>27</td><td>FW</td><td>Dan Agyei</td><td>1 June 1997</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>Kocaelispor</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>FW</td><td>Iñaki Williams</td><td>15 June 1994</td><td>25</td><td>2</td><td>Athletic Bilbao</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>FW</td><td>Brandon Thomas-Asante</td><td>28 December 1998</td><td>7</td><td>1</td><td>Coventry City</td></tr></tbody></table>

Recent call-ups

The following have also been called up in the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Jojo Wollacott	8 September 1996	12	0	Crawley Town	v.  Madagascar, 24 March 2025
DF	Alidu Seidu	4 June 2000	23	1	Rennes	v.  South Korea, 18 November 2025
DF	Mohammed Salisu	17 April 1999	21	4	Monaco	v.  South Korea, 18 November 2025
DF	Ebenezer Annan	21 August 2002	7	0	Saint-Étienne	v.  South Korea, 18 November 2025
DF	Tariq Lamptey	30 September 2000	11	0	Fiorentina	v.  Mali, 8 September 2025
DF	Razak Simpson	15 July 1998	7	1	Nations	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, 31 May 2025
DF	Stephan Ambrosius	18 December 1998	4	0	Karlsruher SC	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, 31 May 2025
DF	Mamudu Kamaradin	4 November 2002	4	0	Al Hilal	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, 31 May 2025
DF	Aaron Essel	30 December 2005	1	0	Sacramento Republic	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, 31 May 2025
DF	Kingsley Schindler	12 July 1993	8	0	Buriram United	v.  Madagascar, 24 March 2025
MF	Abu Francis	27 April 2001	7	0	Toulouse	v.  South Korea, 18 November 2025
MF	Prince Owusu	8 October 2004	3	0	Medeama	v.  South Korea, 18 November 2025
MF	Kelvin Nkrumah	11 September 2007	0	0	Medeama	v.  South Korea, 18 November 2025
MF	Mohammed Kudus (third captain)	2 August 2000	46	13	Tottenham Hotspur	v.  Comoros, 12 October 2025
MF	Salis Abdul Samed	26 March 2000	22	0	Nice	v.  Mali, 8 September 2025
MF	Ibrahim Osman	29 November 2004	3	0	Birmingham City	v.  Mali, 8 September 2025
MF	Majeed Ashimeru	10 October 1997	12	0	RAAL La Louvière	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, 31 May 2025
MF	Lawrence Agyekum	23 November 2003	2	1	Cercle Brugge	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, 31 May 2025
FW	Prince Osei Owusu	7 January 1997	2	0	Montréal	v.  South Korea, 18 November 2025
FW	Joseph Paintsil	1 February 1998	18	0	LA Galaxy	v.  Comoros, 12 October 2025
FW	Jerry Afriyie	10 December 2006	5	1	La Louvière	v.  Mali, 8 September 2025
FW	Felix Afena-Gyan	19 January 2003	8	1	Amedspor	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, 31 May 2025
FW	Kwame Opoku	8 May 1999	3	0	Asante Kotoko	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, 31 May 2025
FW	Mohammed Fuseini	16 May 2002	2	1	Union Saint-Gilloise	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, 31 May 2025
FW	Aziz Issah	20 November 2005	1	0	Barcelona Atlètic	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, 31 May 2025
FW	Ernest Nuamah	1 November 2003	17	4	Lyon	v.  Madagascar, 24 March 2025

Local team

The football association of Ghana (GFA) administers national teams at different levels, including one for the local national team. The team is restricted to players who only play in the local league, thus the Ghana Premier League. It is nicknamed Local Black Stars.

Records

Ghana national football team

As of 27 March 2026 Players in bold are still active with Ghana.

Most appearances

André Ayew is Ghana's most capped player with 120 appearances.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	André Ayew	120	24	2007–present
2	Jordan Ayew	118	34	2010–present
3	Asamoah Gyan	109	51	2003–2019
4	Richard Kingson	93	1	1996–2011
5	John Paintsil	91	0	2001–2013
6	Harrison Afful	86	0	2008–2018
7	Sulley Muntari	84	20	2002–2014
8	John Mensah	81	3	2001–2012
9	Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu	78	11	2008–2017
10	Kwadwo Asamoah	74	4	2008–2019

Top goalscorers

Asamoah Gyan is Ghana's top goalscorer with 51 goals.

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Asamoah Gyan	51	109	0.47	2003–2019
2	Edward Acquah	45	41	1.1	1956–1964
3	Kwasi Owusu	36	45	0.8	1968–1976
4	Jordan Ayew	34	118	0.29	2010–present
5	Tony Yeboah	29	59	0.49	1985–1997
6	Karim Abdul Razak	25	62	0.4	1975–1988
7	André Ayew	24	120	0.2	2007–present
8	Wilberforce Mfum	20	26	0.77	1960–1968
Sulley Muntari	20	84	0.24	2002–2014
10	Osei Kofi	19	25	0.76	1964–1973
Abedi Pele	19	73	0.26	1982–1998

Captains

• Awuley Quaye (1978) • Kuuku Dadzie (1980–1982) • Emmanuel Quarshie (1982–1984) • Isaac Paha (1984) • James Kwesi Appiah (1984–1992) • Abedi Pele (1992–1998) • Charles Akonnor (1999–2001) • Emmanuel Osei Kuffour (2002) • Stephen Appiah (2002–2010) • John Mensah (2010–2012) • Asamoah Gyan (2012–2019) • André Ayew (2019–2024) • Jordan Ayew (2024–)

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Top: At the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Center and bottom: Ghana against Uruguay in the 2010 tournament at Soccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Ghana have qualified for 5 FIFA World Cup tournaments, in (/wiki/2006FIFAWorldCup), (/wiki/2010FIFAWorldCup), (/wiki/2014FIFAWorldCup), (/wiki/2022FIFAWorldCup) and (/wiki/2026FIFAWorldCup). In 2006, it was the only African side to advance to the second round in Germany, and was the sixth nation in a row from Africa to progress beyond the group stages of the World Cup. Ghana had the youngest team in the 2006 edition with an average age of 23 years and 352 days, and were praised for their improving performance. FIFA ranked Ghana 13th out of the 32 countries who competed in the tournament.

In the 2010 World Cup, Ghana reached the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by Uruguay, after Luis Suárez's handball prevented a possible winning goal. Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2010 edition, FIFA ranked Ghana 7th.

After beating Egypt 7–3 on aggregate in November 2013, Ghana qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. For the first time, Ghana were eliminated in the group stage, drawing 2–2 against Germany, and losing to the United States and Portugal 2–1. Eight years later, Ghana failed to advance past the group stage again, at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

FIFA World Cup record		Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Campaign
1930 to 1954	Part of United Kingdom	Part of United Kingdom
1958	Not a FIFA member	Not a FIFA member
1962	Did not qualify	4	1	2	1	6	4	1962
1966	Withdrew	Withdrew
1970	Did not qualify	2	0	1	1	2	3	1970
1974	6	4	1	1	14	5	1974
1978	3	1	0	2	3	5	1978
1982	Withdrew	Withdrew
1986	Did not qualify	4	1	2	1	2	2	1986
1990	2	0	1	1	0	2	1990
1994	4	2	0	2	4	3	1994
1998	8	2	4	2	9	8	1998
2002	10	5	2	3	14	11	2002
2006	Round of 16	13th	4	2	0	2	4	6	Squad	12	8	3	1	24	4	2006
2010	Quarter-finals	7th	5	2	2	1	5	4	Squad	12	8	1	3	20	8	2010
2014	Group stage	25th	3	0	1	2	4	6	Squad	8	6	0	2	25	6	2014
2018	Did not qualify	8	2	5	1	9	5	2018
2022	Group stage	24th	3	1	0	2	5	7	Squad	8	4	3	1	8	4	2022
2026	Qualified	10	8	1	1	23	6	2026
2030	To be determined	To be determined	2030
2034	2034
Total	Quarter-finals	5/17	15	5	3	7	18	23	–	101	52	26	23	163	76

Africa Cup of Nations

At the 2015 AFCON vs. Guinea in the quarter-finals.

The Black Stars of Ghana have won the Africa Cup of Nations four times: in (/wiki/1963AfricanCupofNations), (/wiki/1965AfricanCupofNations), (/wiki/1978AfricanCupofNations), and (/wiki/1982AfricanCupofNations), bettered only by Cameroon and Egypt. As the first winner of three AFCON tournaments, Ghana obtained the right to permanently hold the trophy in 1978.

In November 2024, following a 1–1 draw against Angola, Ghana failed to qualify for the 2025 AFCON, missing the tournament for the first time since 2004.

Africa Cup of Nations record		Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Campaign
1957	Not affiliated to CAF	Not affiliated to CAF
1959
1962	Did not qualify	2	0	2	0	2	2	1962
1963	Champions	1st	3	2	1	0	6	1	Squad	Qualified as hosts
1965	Champions	1st	3	3	0	0	12	5	Squad	Qualified as defending champions
1968	Runners-up	2nd	5	3	1	1	11	8	Squad	Qualified as defending champions
1970	Runners-up	2nd	5	2	2	1	6	4	Squad	2	2	0	0	15	1	1970
1972	Did not qualify	2	0	1	1	0	1	1972
1974	4	1	0	3	3	7	1974
1976	4	2	0	2	7	5	1976
1978	Champions	1st	5	4	1	0	9	2	Squad	Qualified as hosts
1980	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	1	1	Squad	Qualified as defending champions
1982	Champions	1st	5	2	3	0	7	5	Squad	4	2	2	0	6	4	1982
1984	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	2	4	Squad	Qualified as defending champions
1986	Did not qualify	4	1	2	1	5	4	1986
1988	2	0	1	1	1	2	1988
1990	2	1	0	1	1	1	1990
1992	Runners-up	2nd	5	4	1	0	6	2	Squad	8	5	2	1	11	2	1992
1994	Quarter-finals	5th	3	2	0	1	3	2	Squad	2	2	0	0	3	0	1994
1996	Fourth place	4th	6	4	0	2	7	5	Squad	4	3	0	1	9	3	1996
1998	Group stage	11th	3	1	0	2	3	3	Squad	4	2	1	1	4	3	1998
2000	Quarter-finals	8th	4	1	1	2	3	4	Squad	Qualified as hosts
2002	7th	4	1	2	1	2	2	Squad	6	4	1	1	16	8	2002
2004	Did not qualify	4	1	1	2	5	5	2004
2006	Group stage	10th	3	1	0	2	2	3	Squad	10	6	3	1	17	4	2006
2008	Third place	3rd	6	5	0	1	11	5	Squad	Qualified as hosts
2010	Runners-up	2nd	5	3	0	2	4	4	Squad	12	8	1	3	20	8	2010
2012	Fourth place	4th	6	3	1	2	6	5	Squad	6	5	1	0	13	1	2012
2013	Fourth place	4th	6	3	2	1	10	6	Squad	2	2	0	0	3	0	2013
2015	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	1	1	10	3	Squad	6	3	2	1	11	7	2015
2017	Fourth place	4th	6	3	0	3	4	5	Squad	6	4	2	0	14	3	2017
2019	Round of 16	12th	4	1	3	0	5	3	Squad	4	3	0	1	8	1	2019
2021	Group stage	19th	3	0	1	2	3	5	Squad	6	4	1	1	9	3	2021
2023	17th	3	0	2	1	5	6	Squad	6	3	3	0	8	3	2023
2025	Did not qualify	6	0	3	3	3	7	2025
2027	To be determined	To be determined
2028
Total	4 Titles	24/35	105	54	23	28	138	93	–	118	64	29	25	194	85

Draws include matches decided by penalty shoot-out.

Olympic Games

Olympic Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
1900 to 1956	Part of United Kingdom
Rome 1960	Did not qualify
Tokyo 1964	Quarter-finals	7th	4	1	1	2	7	12	Squad
Mexico 1968	Group stage	12th	3	0	2	1	6	8	Squad
Munich 1972	16th	3	0	0	3	1	11	Squad
Montreal 1976	Withdrew after qualifying
Moscow 1980
Los Angeles 1984	Did not qualify
Seoul 1988
Since 1992	See Ghana national under-23 football team
Total	Quarter-finals	3/8	10	1	3	6	14	31	–

Head-to-head record against FIFA recognised teams

Ghana national football team

As of 30 March 2026 after the match against Germany.

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Algeria	13	5	3	5	13	15	−2	038.46
Angola	10	4	4	2	9	7	+2	040.00
Argentina	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Australia	7	1	2	4	4	8	−4	014.29
Austria	2	0	1	1	2	6	−4	000.00
Benin	22	13	6	3	47	16	+31	059.09
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Botswana	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	050.00
Brazil	5	0	0	5	2	16	−14	000.00
Burkina Faso	31	14	6	11	42	32	+10	045.16
Burundi	3	2	0	1	2	1	+1	066.67
Cameroon	9	3	4	2	7	6	+1	033.33
Canada	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Cape Verde	7	4	0	3	10	4	+6	057.14
Central African Republic	4	3	1	0	12	5	+7	075.00
Chad	2	1	1	0	6	1	+5	050.00
Chile	2	0	2	0	1	1	+0	000.00
China	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	033.33
Comoros	5	2	1	2	5	4	+1	040.00
Congo	13	10	2	1	30	13	+17	076.92
DR Congo	14	7	4	3	24	12	+12	050.00
Croatia	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	—
Cuba	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Czech Republic	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Denmark	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Egypt	24	5	7	12	27	34	−7	020.83
England	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Equatorial Guinea	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100.00
Eritrea	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5	100.00
Eswatini	3	3	0	0	6	0	+6	100.00
Ethiopia	6	4	1	1	11	3	+8	066.67
Gabon	12	6	4	2	16	10	+6	050.00
Gambia	8	6	1	1	16	6	+10	075.00
Germany	4	0	1	3	4	11	−7	000.00
Greece	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Guinea	22	11	7	4	35	21	+14	050.00
Guinea-Bissau	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Hungary	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Iceland	1	0	1	0	2	2	+0	000.00
India	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	050.00
Indonesia	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	100.00
Iran	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	000.00
Iraq	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	000.00
Italy	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Ivory Coast	43	15	14	14	55	49	+6	034.88
Jamaica	2	2	0	0	6	2	+4	100.00
Japan	8	2	0	6	11	18	−7	025.00
Kenya	9	5	2	2	35	13	+22	055.56
Latvia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Lesotho	8	7	1	0	26	7	+19	087.50
Liberia	20	9	7	4	22	16	+6	045.00
Libya	10	2	3	5	8	10	−2	020.00
Madagascar	7	3	2	2	12	7	+5	042.86
Malawi	5	4	1	0	5	0	+5	080.00
Malaysia	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Mali	26	13	9	4	40	22	+18	050.00
Mauritania	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00
Mauritius	2	2	0	0	9	1	+8	100.00
Mexico	4	0	0	4	1	6	−5	000.00
Montenegro	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Morocco	12	3	3	6	8	9	−1	025.00
Mozambique	7	4	3	0	11	4	+7	057.14
Namibia	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Netherlands	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	000.00
New Zealand	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Nicaragua	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Niger	16	11	2	3	49	13	+36	068.75
Nigeria	57	22	21	14	81	56	+25	038.60
Norway	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1	000.00
Panama	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	—
Poland	2	0	0	2	3	5	−2	000.00
Portugal	2	0	0	2	3	5	−2	000.00
Qatar	1	1	0	0	6	3	+3	100.00
Russia	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Rwanda	4	2	1	1	6	4	+2	050.00
São Tomé and Príncipe	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	100.00
Saudi Arabia	5	2	2	1	7	7	+0	040.00
Senegal	13	4	5	4	17	16	+1	030.77
South Korea	12	6	1	5	20	16	+4	050.00
Sierra Leone	17	8	4	5	32	18	+14	047.06
Singapore	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100.00
Slovenia	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Somalia	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7	100.00
South Africa	16	5	6	5	14	12	+2	031.25
Sudan	16	10	2	4	25	8	+17	062.50
Switzerland	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Tanzania	8	4	3	1	12	9	+3	050.00
Thailand	2	2	0	0	6	2	+4	100.00
Togo	34	18	10	6	58	31	+27	052.94
Trinidad and Tobago	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Tunisia	18	10	3	5	30	19	+11	055.56
Turkey	2	0	2	0	3	3	+0	000.00
Uganda	16	7	6	3	21	11	+10	043.75
Uruguay	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2	000.00
United States	6	3	0	3	11	10	+1	050.00
Uzbekistan	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1	000.00
Wales	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	—
Zambia	12	7	0	5	15	15	+0	058.33
Zimbabwe	8	5	2	1	14	7	+7	062.50
Total	712	326	185	201	1,084	716	+368	045.79

Head-to-head record against non-FIFA recognized teams

Ghana national football team

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
América FC	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1
Español	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2
PSV	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1
Real Madrid	1	0	1	0	3	3	0
Santa Catarina	3	0	1	2	1	6	-5
Swansea City	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
Jeju United FC	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
TOTAL	9	2	2	5	12	17	-5

Honours

Awards

• FIFA Best Mover of the Year (1): 2005 • African National Team of the Year (3): 1983, 2006, 2010

Summary

Competition				Total
CAF African Cup of Nations	4	5	1	10
CAF African Nations Championship	0	2	0	2
Total	4	7	1	12

• Competition organized by ANOCA, officially not recognized by FIFA.