World Cup 2026: Did Ghana’s Black Stars succeed or fall short?

It already feels like a long time since the Black Stars were competing at the 2026 World Cup. A narrow defeat to Colombia in the round of 32 saw Ghana exit the competition. But can the performances in the four games in North America be considered a success for a nation that was once the best in Africa?

Not many of the best World Cup betting sites predicted that Ghana would even progress from the opening group stage, so making it to the knockout rounds again seems like a positive. FIFA had only three other teams ranked lower than the Black Stars before the tournament began, so surely making it into the last 32 – and officially finishing as the 24th best team - should be thought of as an achievement.

Notions of success and failure are harder to define when it comes to Ghana’s national football team, however. No matter what the pundits said, Ghana’s departure was a disappointment. But now, a few weeks on from that loss, are there positives to take from the Black Stars at World Cup 2026?

Head Coach Pressures

African teams are unfairly stereotyped by some as being chaotic and lacking organization, and Ghana sacking its head coach and appointing Carlos Queiroz just 65 days before the World Cup started only confirmed that view. But there is no doubt that results under Otto Addo had deteriorated to a point where something drastic had to be done.

Queiroz is known to favour a pragmatic approach when it comes to tactics and style of play, so it is admirable that the team was able to take on board his ideas in such a short space of time. The defensive performances at the World Cup showed that it could play the way he wanted it to play, and that there was enough talent in the squad for his ideas to be successful.

World Cup Results

Although it wasn’t considered to be in the dreaded “group of death” at this tournament, Ghana came into the competition knowing that it would have to get past some very good teams if it was to progress to the knockout rounds for the first time since 2010. Therefore, making it out of Group L has to be considered an achievement for the Black Stars.

Beating Panama in the first game was all-important. A stoppage-time winner from Caleb Yirenkyi gave Ghana a great chance, but even with an expanded format, getting another point from either England or Croatia to virtually guarantee a round of 32 berth was still a tough task.

The draw against England showed Ghana at its very best. A defensive masterclass stifled one of the best teams in the world and made the game against Croatia far less tense. Losing to a very good Colombia team in the round of 32 is no embarrassment, and a kinder draw may well have seen the Black Stars progress further.

AFCON 2027

Being knocked out of the World Cup relatively early was certainly disappointing, but the players and coaches should all now be focusing on the AFCON 2027 qualification campaign scheduled to begin in September. Although Ghana has been grouped with Côte d’Ivoire, there are two berths to aim for, and it would be a huge shock if the Black Stars are not at the finals next year.

It has been 44 years since Ghana last won AFCON, but more concerning have been the performances at the last few tournaments. The Black Stars failed to qualify at all for the 2025 tournament and have not made it past the group stage since 2019. The current team should take the lessons learned at the World Cup as an inspiration into the upcoming games and then go into AFCON 2027 to make it to the later rounds at the very least.

Player Selection

There has been some development in recent years when it comes to catching up with other African nations and their systems of attracting players from the diaspora. Morocco and Senegal are the obvious examples, but even World Cup debutants Cape Verde has dramatically improved after approaching players who were born elsewhere.

With the domestic game in an unfortunate and sorry state, those in charge of Ghanaian football must do more to attract players of Ghanaian heritage to the national set-up. There are some excellent examples of players from the Ghanaian diaspora coming through to become Black Stars, and the performances at this summer’s tournament should only help convince more to explore whether they are eligible.

Success or Failure?

Everything considered, Ghana’s performance at the 2026 World Cup has to be thought of as a success. With such upheaval and poor results immediately before the tournament, and a recent history of underachievement and non-qualification, the Black Stars making it out of a very tough group is to be applauded.

The spotlight may have been on teams like Cape Verde, who burst onto the global stage with their drama-filled experience and newsworthy narrative, but Ghana should also find that just being at a World Cup and playing well provides a platform for greater recognition and future success.

That is why it is crucially important that the steps taken in North America are not wasted. There is talk of Carlos Queiroz rethinking his decision to step down as head coach, but even if the Portuguese veteran does not come back to the Black Stars, we should prepare for a period of stability in that position.

A coach who has the time to further develop the team and implement ideas is vital for the Black Stars to be successful throughout AFCON qualification and beyond. Ghana should be immensely proud of how its team performed on the global stage, but now the team must keep on track to, once again, become the powerhouse of African football.

Source: YEN.com.gh