★ WELCOME TO THE OCTOPUS'S SOCCER ALMANAC ★ SINCE 2026 ★ NO COOKIES, NO TRACKING, JUST HISTORICAL TENTACLE-FACTS ★ BEST VIEWED IN 800x600 RESOLUTION ★ NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR 4.0 RECOMMENDED ★ FLASH PLAYER REQUIRED FOR ANIMATED BADGES ★ ALL STATISTICS ARE INTEGER-BASED AND CEPHALOPOD-CERTIFIED ★
🇬🇧 EN
NATION FILE
CAF · WEST AFRICA

GHANA

Ghana · GHA · CAF
The Black StarsBlack Stars

🌎 WORLD CUP RECORD

4
EVER-PRESENT
15
MATCHES
▲ THE HIGH
2010 in South Africa — quarter-finals, one Suárez handball and one missed penalty away from becoming the first African semi-finalists
▼ THE LOW
2014 in Brazil — out in the group, the campaign overshadowed by a pay row and a plane of cash flown to the squad

Four World Cups so far (2006, 2010, 2014, 2022) — missed only 2018 since their debut; 2026 will be their 5th

🏆 HONOURS CABINET

🥇
AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS
1963 · 1965 · 1978 · 1982
🥇
AFRICAN GAMES GOLD
2011 · 2023
🛡️
U-20 WORLD CUP
2009
🛡️
U-17 WORLD CUP
1991 · 1995
THE SQUAD — OFFICIAL 26
COACH Carlos Queiroz · Portugal · since 2026 Appointed in April 2026 on a short-term deal after Otto Addo's exit — the well-travelled Portuguese (born in Mozambique) called the Black Stars job 'the biggest challenge of my entire career'.
CAPTAIN Jordan Ayew Thomas Partey (#5) is the deputy captain.
GOALKEEPERS
01
Lawrence Ati-Zigi
St. Gallen
29 caps · 0 goals
16
Benjamin Asare
Hearts of Oak
11 caps · 0 goals
12
Joseph Anang
St Patrick's Athletic
1 caps · 0 goals
DEFENDERS
02
Alidu Seidu
Rennes
24 caps · 1 goals
04
Jonas Adjetey
VfL Wolfsburg
10 caps · 0 goals
06
Abdul Mumin
Rayo Vallecano
5 caps · 0 goals
14
Gideon Mensah
Auxerre
40 caps · 0 goals
17
Abdul Rahman Baba
PAOK
51 caps · 1 goals
18
Jerome Opoku
İstanbul Başakşehir
11 caps · 1 goals
21
Kojo Peprah Oppong
Nice
4 caps · 0 goals
23
Derrick Luckassen
Pafos
1 caps · 0 goals
26
Marvin Senaya
Auxerre
2 caps · 0 goals
MIDFIELDERS
05
Thomas Partey
Villarreal
57 caps · 15 goals
15
Elisha Owusu
Auxerre
20 caps · 0 goals
08
Kwasi Sibo
Real Oviedo
8 caps · 0 goals
03
Caleb Yirenkyi
Nordsjælland
11 caps · 1 goals
20
Augustine Boakye
Saint-Étienne
0 caps · 0 goals
07
Abdul Fatawu
Leicester City
28 caps · 3 goals
FORWARDS
09
Jordan Ayew C
Leicester City
120 caps · 34 goals
11
Antoine Semenyo
Manchester City
34 caps · 3 goals
19
Iñaki Williams
Athletic Bilbao
26 caps · 2 goals
22
Kamaldeen Sulemana
Atalanta
28 caps · 1 goals
24
Ernest Nuamah
Lyon
18 caps · 4 goals
13
Christopher Bonsu Baah
Al-Qadsiah
9 caps · 0 goals
10
Brandon Thomas-Asante
Coventry City
8 caps · 1 goals
25
Prince Kwabena Adu
Viktoria Plzeň
5 caps · 0 goals
↻ LATE CHANGES
Alexander Djiku → Derrick Luckassen Centre-back Alexander Djiku withdrew with a hamstring injury (ruled out roughly six weeks) and was replaced by Derrick Luckassen on 1 June 2026.
★ PLAYER TO WATCH
Antoine Semenyo Manchester City · FW · b. 2000

England-born and Ghana-chosen, he earned a £64m move to Manchester City in January 2026 and a Premier League Player of the Month award — the squad's in-form attacker.

STAR PLAYERS
STAR 05
THOMAS PARTEY
Midfield anchor
STAR 11
ANTOINE SEMENYO
Forward · in form
STAR 19
IÑAKI WILLIAMS
Forward
★ LEGEND 09
JORDAN AYEW
Captain · 120 caps
★ ONE TO WATCH 22
★ THE REVELATION
KAMALDEEN SULEMANA
One to watch · winger
HI-SCORE — ALL-TIME RECORDS
MOST CAPS
1André Ayew120
2Jordan Ayew120
3Asamoah Gyan109
4Richard Kingson90
5John Paintsil89
6John Mensah86

The Ayew brothers — sons of Abedi Pele — are tied as Ghana's most-capped players on 120 each; Jordan drew level in a friendly with Wales in June 2026

MOST GOALS
1Asamoah Gyan51
2Edward Acquah45
3Kwasi Owusu36
4Jordan Ayew34
5Tony Yeboah29
6Karim Abdul Razak25

Ghana's record scorer, and the highest-scoring African in World Cup history with six goals across three finals

RECENT LINE-UP — 4-2-3-1

⚠ The most-used eleven in recent matches under Carlos Queiroz (June 2026) — a snapshot of recent form, never a forecast.

P1 SELECT TAP A PLAYER
4-2-3-1
1Lawrence Ati-ZigiGK
2Alidu SeiduRB
6Abdul MuminCB
4Jonas AdjeteyCB
14Gideon MensahLB
5Thomas ParteyDM
15Elisha OwusuDM
11Antoine SemenyoRW
7Abdul FatawuAM
22Kamaldeen SulemanaLW
9Jordan Ayew CST

The recent first-choice eleven under Carlos Queiroz — the gold dot is the captain. Hover or tap a glowing dot.

⭐ HALL OF FAME

PLAYERPOSERACAPSGLSFILE NOTE
Abedi Pele #10 AM 1982–1998 73 19 Three-time African Footballer of the Year and a Champions League winner with Marseille — the standard every Ghanaian No.10 is measured against.
Asamoah Gyan #3 FW 2003–2019 109 51 Record scorer and World Cup talisman; the penalty against Uruguay in 2010 is the one wound the nation never quite stops poking.
Michael Essien #5 CM 2002–2014 59 9 The Bison. A box-to-box force of nature at Chelsea — strength, stamina and a thunderbolt or two.
Stephen Appiah #10 CM 1996–2012 67 14 Tornado. The captain who drove Ghana to a first-ever World Cup in 2006.
Sulley Muntari #11 CM 2002–2014 84 20 A left foot like a cannon and an Inter treble medal — the engine of the golden-era midfield.
Tony Yeboah #9 FW 1985–1997 59 29 Bundesliga and Leeds goal machine whose volleys are still played on loop; a feud with Abedi Pele is football folklore.
Samuel Kuffour #4 CB 1996–2006 58 1 A Champions League winner with Bayern Munich — Ghana's most decorated defender.
Richard Kingson #22 GK 1996–2010 90 0 Olele. The unflappable gloves behind the 2006 and 2010 runs.
André Ayew #10 FW 2007–2024 120 24 Dede. Joint most-capped Black Star, captain across three World Cups, and the elder of the Ayew dynasty.
Kwasi Owusu #9 FW 1968–1978 50 36 The 1970s spearhead — one of the most prolific marksmen of Ghana's amateur golden age.
THE ALMANAC SPEAKS
PROF. INKSWORTH:

Africa's great nearly-men: four continental crowns, the youth-tournament pedigree of a superpower, and the most painful quarter-final in the game's memory. The Black Stars play with a flair that lights up any tournament — and carry the eternal question of how high they might have climbed had one penalty in 2010 stayed down. A historian's favourite underdog.

  • The name 'Black Stars' predates the team — it honours the star on the 1957 flag, itself a nod to Marcus Garvey's Black Star shipping line.
  • In 2010 Ghana came one missed penalty from being Africa's first World Cup semi-finalists. The Almanac files this under 'cruellest near-misses' and lights a candle.
  • The Ayew brothers, André and Jordan, are tied as Ghana's most-capped players on 120 each — and their father, Abedi Pele, won African Footballer of the Year three times. A family business.
  • Ghana have lifted the youth World Cup three times across two age groups, which is three more global trophies than several countries that fancy themselves giants.

📜 FILE TIMELINE

1957
Newly independent Ghana names its team the Black Stars — after the star on the flag and Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line.
1963
Hosts and win the first of back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations titles (the second follows in 1965).
1982
A fourth African crown in Libya — Abedi Pele's side; Ghana would not win it again.
2006
Germany. A first-ever World Cup; Asamoah Gyan's early strike helps Ghana reach the last 16 on debut.
2009
Ghana win the U-20 World Cup in Egypt — the first African nation to do so.
2010
South Africa. The quarter-final agony — Suárez's handball, Gyan's missed penalty, out to Uruguay on a shoot-out.
2026
Back at the World Cup after missing 2018, drawn with Panama, England and Croatia.
◄ scroll the ledger ►

⚽ MATCHES — 2026

Ready.
Zone: Historical