ALHAJI SALIFU ABDUL-RAHAMAN — WITH the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw out, the stage is now set for the participating countries to step up their training to fine-tune their game plans to convene on US, Mexico and Canada to show to the world what is under their sleeves, and demonstrate their capabilities and abilities to lift the Jules Rimet FIFA World Cup in the expended 48-country football tournament.
What is important for us in Ghana is the Group L where our "Darling Boys" the Black Stars are paired along with our colonial masters England, Croatia and Panama-the 2013, 2025 CONCACAF runners-up. Many a soccer fans feel that it is a soft group without a fearsome names like Argentina, Germany, France, Spain, Brazil, to mention but a few.
In any case, the Stars are likely to square up with them, as they progress in the 39-day long highly competitive tournament scheduled to kick off on June 11,2025 with the closing proceedings on July 19, 2026.
England, Croatia and Panama are all known football countries. In terms of FIFA rankings, England are ranked 4th globally, Croatia 10th, the Latin America contestants Panama 30th and Ghana ignominiously ranked 72th.
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On paper Black Stars are not favourite to go beyond the group stage because of their lowly- FIFA ranking. So, therefore on paper England and Croatia look likely to advance to the next stage of the competition, and Ghana and Panama are likely to take early exit at the group stage.
Nevertheless, football knows no logic! At their maiden World Cup appearance at Germany 2006, the Black Stars came up against highly- ranked Czech Republic and Mighty US, but the Stars returned the dud "Checks" to the bank and bombed the Almighty US with their locally- made ballistic missiles to advance to the knock out stage.
But, let me hasten to say that, we boasted of quality players like Michael Essien, Asamoah Gyan, Sulley Muntari, Skipper Stephen Appiah, now Coach Otto Addo, Richard Kingston and co to achieve the results. Do we have similar good quality players to repeat the dose of the 2006, and the 2010 edition in South Africa, where got to the quarter finals, the third African country to get that far, after Cameroon(1990) Senegal (2002), till Morocco broke the record to reach the Semi-finals at the last edition in Qatar.
No matter the circumstance, the Black Stars must brace the odd and shine in order to win back the love from the fans, and put behind us the embarrassing "no appearance fee no training" at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The Three Lions, the Los Canealeros and the Checkered or the Vatreni as England, Panama and Croatia are respectively nicknamed, are more advanced in terms of football infrastructure development than Ghana, but globalisation has made it possible for Ghanaian players to compete with them in either their local leagues or elsewhere abroad. So, the Stars must have what it takes to compete against any of the team at the tournament.
Ghanaians are comfortable and enthusiastic for the Black Stars to face off England, given the fact that they are our colonial masters, they taught us the game, we have also come of age, and we can teach them a soccer lesson. After all, Senegal taught their colonial masters football lesson by defeating them I-0 at the opening of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
But, there again the conditions and circumstances have changed. The colonizers will no longer come soft against their former colonies! There have not been many football games between the Black Stars and the English national football team.
In the 1950s, a collection of bootless Gold Coast Eleven took a voyage to Britain, where for the first time they showcased Ghana's soccer prowess on the international stage. Though they came under avalanche of goals due to unfavourable snowy condition and lack of football boots, they proved Ghana's soccer potential to the outside world.
It was an opener for the adventurous Gold Coast Eleven, and CK Briandt, the first Skipper of the Black Stars got the opportunity to buy a football boots and popularise its use in the country.
Lately, in 2011 the Black Stars fascinated the English soccer fans when Asamoah Gyan rounded up the English defence, to pull an even in an International Football match at Wembley, to deny England victory over its former colony.
A number of Ghanaian footballers, notably Mohammed Kudus, Jordan Ayew, Anthony Semenyo, Tariq Lamptey play in the English league and coming against the likes of Hary Kane, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Jude Bellingham, it is a matter of familiarity with the game and not the matter of inferiority complex.
"We fully understand the team, we 'll up against their quality, we 'll be ready for it," Mohamamed Kudus is said to have commented after the draw last week.
"England's tough World Cup Group: Croatia, Panama and Ghana in the group as path to the finals looks bumpy...as Scotland face Brazil," the Daily Mail reported on the draw.
Indeed, the Checkered,1998, 2022 and 2018 FIFA World Cup medal winning team are very consistent in World Cup competitions and progressively look good. The Black Stars have an opponent to contend with.
Similarly, the Los Canealeros will come to prove a point having been good contestant in CONCACAF competitions. The Black Stars must certainly be on the lookout in their maiden game against this relatively unknown opponent. Unknown things are dangerous!
Soccer is more about consistent training guided by rationale thinking and science. I hope the technical handlers have this on their mind before any other considerations.
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At the last FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar, one Kweku Bonsam, swayed the minds of some soccer fans to think that, he has the spiritual powers to undue Cristiano Ronaldo when the Black Stars come face to face against their old folks-Poland. But, rather the Black Stars gifted Ronaldo a cheap goal, to score and continue his easy ride over the Stars.
We must not approach this World Cup with the mindset to settle a personal score with our former colonial masters, and pay little attention to other contenders. We approached the last edition with the mindset of settling a personal score with our old folks-Uruguay and Poland--and we ended up abysmally.
Once more, the Black Stars have the opportunity on the World stage, to prove skeptics wrong and bring back the love and smiles on the faces of Ghanaians to atone for the "Brazil debacle" where the "no appearance fee, no training" embarrassed the country, promptly the government to charter a flight, on board the cash, to settle the Stars in Brazil.
It looks like the Black Stars will defy all odds and progress to the knock out stage, but if wishes were horses, we will ride, but wishes cannot be horses in a highly-competitive FIFA men's football World Cup!
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2025 06 GHANAIAN Times Features
It looks like the Black Stars will defy all odds and progress to the knock out stage, but if wishes were horses, we will ride, but wishes cannot be horses in a highlycompetitive FIFA men's football World Cup! "
