Ghanaian national soccer team / world championships

Ghana
Republic of Ghana

World Cup record goalscorer:	Asamoah Gyan (6)
World Cup record players:	Asamoah Gyan (11)
Rank :	37
Balance sheet
12 World Cup games 4 wins 3 draws 5 defeats 13:16 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Ghana 0-2 Italy Hanover ( DEU ); June 12, 2006
Biggest World Cup victory Ghana 2-0 Czech Republic Cologne ( DEU ); June 17, 2006
Biggest World Cup defeat Ghana 0: 3 Brazil Dortmund ( DEU ); June 27, 2006
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	3 ( first : 2006 )
Best results	Quarterfinals 2010
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of July 2018 )

The article contains a detailed description of the Ghanaian national soccer team at soccer world championships . The Ghanaian team took part in qualifying for the 1962 World Cup for the first time and has so far qualified for the World Cup three times. Ghana is in 37th place in the all-time ranking , making them the best team that only participated three times.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1962	Chile	not qualified				In the qualification in the 2nd round to Morocco failed, which could not qualify either.
1966	England	withdrawn
1970	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification in the second round, Nigeria failed, but they could not qualify either.
1974	Germany	not qualified				Zaire failed in the third round of qualification .
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualification in the first round, Guinea failed, but they could not qualify either.
1982	Spain	withdrawn
1986	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification in the third round, Libya failed, but could not qualify either.
1990	Italy	not qualified				In the qualifiers in the first round of Liberia failed, but that could not qualify well.
1994	United States	not qualified				In the qualification in the first round to Algeria failed, which could not qualify either.
1998	France	not qualified				In the qualification in the second round at the Morocco failed.
2002	South Korea / Japan	not qualified				In the qualification in the 2nd round to Nigeria failed.
2006	Germany	Round of 16	Brazil	13.	Ratomir Dujković	Round of 16 against the defending champion
2010	South Africa	Quarter finals	Uruguay	7th	Milovan Rajevac	Eliminated on penalties.
2014	Brazil	Preliminary round	USA , Germany , Portugal	25th	James Kwesi Appiah	The only team to win points against eventual world champions Germany
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the qualifying failed to Egypt.
2022	Qatar

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Did not take part (no independent state or not recognized): 6 × (29%; 1930 to 1958)
• Withdrawn: 2 × (10%; 1966 and 1982)
• Not qualified: 10 × (48%; 1962, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2018)
• Athletic qualification: 3 × (14% or 23% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: 1 × (5%; 2014)
  • Round of 16: 1 × (5%; 2006)
  • Quarter-finals: 1 × (5%; 2010)

World Cup tournaments

1930 to 1958

Ghana was part of British West Africa from 1878 to 1957 as the Gold Coast , the Ghana Football Association was only founded in the year of independence and incorporated into FIFA in 1958. Therefore, the Ghanaians could not take part in the first six world championships.

1962 in Chile

Ghana took part in qualifying for the World Cup in Chile for the first time and met Nigeria on August 28, 1960 in the first round in Accra in their first World Cup qualifier . The game was won 4-1. The second leg in Lagos ended 2-2. In the second round, the Ghanaians met Morocco . The home game ended goalless and after a 1-0 draw in the second leg Ghana were eliminated. Morocco then failed in the Africa / Europe playoff to Spain.

1966 in England

For the World Cup in the "motherland of football" , Ghana should play against Guinea in the qualifying round . But since the teams from Africa, Asia and Oceania were only allowed one place in the final round, all 15 African teams withdrew.

1970 in Mexico

Ghana had as African champions from 1965 in the qualification for the World Cup in Mexico in the first round byes. In the second round, the team failed to Nigeria. After a 1: 2 in Nigeria it was only enough to a 1: 1 in the home game. Nigeria then failed in the third round to Morocco, which was able to qualify for the first time.

1974 in Germany

In qualifying for the World Cup in Germany, Ghana met Dahomey in the first round and won both games (5-0 and 5-1). In the second round, the Ghanaians prevailed against Nigeria this time. In Nigeria they had won 3-2, so a goalless draw at home was enough to reach the third round. In this, Zaire was defeated 1-0 in the home game, but the second leg was lost 4-1. Zaire was then the first sub-Saharan team to qualify for the World Cup, but this has been their only participation to date.

1978 in Argentina

In qualifying for the World Cup in Argentina , Ghana failed to beat Guinea in three games in the first round . After both had won their home games 2-1, there was a playoff in Lomé , which Guinea won 2-0. Guinea then failed in the third round to Tunisia, which was able to qualify for the first time.

1982 in Spain

In qualifying for the World Cup in Spain , the Ghanaians were supposed to play against Egypt in the first round , but withdrew. Egypt - after Libya also withdrew - reached the third round without a fight, but failed there to Morocco, which failed in the fourth round to Cameroon , with which the Cameroonians qualified for the first time. Ghana won the African Championship for the fourth time in the World Cup .

1986 in Mexico

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Mexico , the Ghanaians received a bye in the first round and prevailed 0-0 and 2-0 against Ivory Coast in the second round . In the third round, Ghana then failed to Libya , which could not qualify either.

1990 in Italy

To qualify for the second World Cup in Italy , the Ghanaians had to face Liberia in the first round . After a 0-0 home game, the second leg was lost 2-0. Liberia could not prevail in the next round against Egypt, which in the end could qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1938.

1994 in the United States

To qualify for the World Cup in the USA , the Ghanaians were drawn into a group with Algeria , Burundi and Uganda . Uganda waived, however, and with two home wins and two away defeats Ghana only finished second behind Algeria. The Algerians then failed in the next round to Nigeria, which thus reached the World Cup for the first time.

1998 in France

The qualification for the second World Cup in France went a little better. In the first round Tanzania could be eliminated. In the second round, however, Morocco and Sierra Leone were stronger. They could only win against Gabon.

2002 in Japan and South Korea

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Asia, the Ghanaians beat Tanzania 3-2 and 1-0 in the first round. In the second round Nigeria , Liberia and Sudan were stronger. Only Sierra Leone was weaker this time.

2006 in Germany

Ghanaian fan before the first World Cup game in his home country

Starting line-ups for the Ghanaians' first World Cup game

Ghana was finally able to qualify for the second World Cup in Germany . After two wins in the first round against Somalia, the team was drawn into a group with DR Congo , South Africa , Burkina Faso , Cape Verde and Uganda in the second round . The Ghanaians lost their first game against Burkina Faso, but not a game after that and ended up being five points ahead of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa.

In Germany, the team was drawn into a group with the eventual world champions Italy , the Czech Republic and the USA . In the first World Cup game in their history, they lost 2-0 to Italy. They won the second game against the more highly rated Czechs 2-0. These meetings allowed Asamoah Gyan as early as the second minute game the first World Cup goal for Ghanaians. After a 2-1 win against the USA, they reached the second round in second place in the group, where they faced defending champions Brazil and lost 3-0. The 1: 0 was the 15th World Cup goal by the Brazilian Ronaldo , making him the most successful goalscorer in World Cup history until July 8, 2014 .

2010 in South Africa

Serbs and Ghanaians before the first group game

Scene from the quarter final match against Uruguay

The qualification for the first World Cup in Africa was also successfully completed. In the second round Gabon , Libya and Lesotho were the opponents. Lesotho lost all games, while the other three teams won their home games against each other. In the end, these three teams each had 12 points, but Ghana had the better goal difference. In the third round, Benin , Mali and Sudan were the opponents. The Ghanaians won four games, drew once and only lost to Benin when they were already qualified for the World Cup.

In South Africa they were drawn into a group with Germany , Serbia and Australia . In the first game, the Ghanaians, trained by Serbs Milovan Rajevac , won 1-0 against Serbia with a hand penalty converted by Gyan, then only achieved a 1: 1 against Australia, with Gyan converting a hand penalty again, and were then despite the 0: 1- Defeat against Germany due to the better goal difference as group runner-up qualified for the knockout round. In this they met the USA and won 2-1 after extra time. In the quarterfinals they met ex-world champions Uruguay. After the score was 1: 1 after 90 minutes, there was extra time in which Luis Suárez prevented the Ghanaians from scoring a sure goal in the first minute of stoppage time with a handball on the goal line. Suárez received the red card for this, but Gyan could not convert the penalty this time, so that the penalty shoot-out followed immediately. Here Gyan was able to convert the first penalty, but Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera was able to save two shots from the Ghanaians, while four Uruguayans were successful. The fifth Ghanaian did not have to compete anymore. With reaching the quarter-finals as the only African team, Ghana achieved its best result at world championships.

2014 in Brazil

The qualification for the second World Cup in Brazil was successful again. In the group stage, Zambia , Lesotho and Sudan were the opponents. The playoffs were reached with five wins and only one loss. Opponents were Egypt and after a 6: 1 in the first leg, the 1: 2 in the second leg could be coped with.

In Brazil, the Ghanaians faced Germany and the USA again, and Portugal for the first time . In the first game against the USA, they fell behind in the first minute. André Ayew was able to equalize in the 82nd minute, but four minutes later John Anthony Brooks , who was substituted on for the second half, made the final score 2-1. The Ghanaians also fell behind against Germany, but then turned the game around and took a 2-1 lead. In the 71st minute, however, Miroslav Klose, who had been substituted two minutes earlier, scored the 2-2 equalizer with his 15th World Cup goal, setting Ronaldo's World Cup record that he had set against Ghana eight years earlier. There were no more goals, but as Ghana lost the last game against Portugal 2-1, the Ghanaians were eliminated for the first time in the preliminary round. After all, Ghana were the only team that could win a point against eventual world champions Germany.

2018 in Russia

In qualifying , the team only had to intervene in the second round, which took place in November 2015. There Ghana met the Comoros , who prevailed against Lesotho after two draws in the first round due to the away goals rule . After a goalless draw in the away game, the home game was won 2-0 and the third round was reached. In this, the Ghanaians could not prevail against Egypt, the Republic of Congo and Uganda. Like Egypt and Uganda, Ghana only lost one game but could only win one game. Group winners were Egypt, which qualified early on the penultimate matchday and thus took part in the World Cup finals for the third time 28 years after their last participation, but did not survive the group stage.

player

Ranking of the Ghanaian World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Asamoah Gyan - 11 appearances in 3 tournaments

02. Richard Kingson , Sulley Muntari and John Pantsil - 9 appearances in 2 and 3 (Muntari) tournaments respectively

05. Kwadwo Asamoah , John Mensah - 8 appearances in 2 tournaments

07. Stephen Appiah , André Ayew and Kevin-Prince Boateng - 7 appearances in 2 tournaments

10. Matthew Amoah , Jonathan Mensah - 6 appearances in 2 tournaments

Ranking of the Ghanaian World Cup players with the most goals

01. Asamoah Gyan - 6 goals

02. Sulley Muntari - 2 goals

World Cup captains

• 2006: Stephen Appiah
• 2010: John Mensah (1st and 3rd game, round of 16 and quarter-finals), Richard Kingson (2nd game)
• 2014: Asamoah Gyan

Players banned from World Championships

• 2006: Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari received 2 yellow cards each in the first two group games and were suspended for the last game against the USA. In this Michael Essien also received the second yellow card and was suspended for the round of 16 against Brazil. Here Asamoah Gyan received the yellow-red card , which had no further effect as Ghana was eliminated.
• 2010: André Ayew and Jonathan Mensah received the second yellow card in the round of 16 against the USA and were suspended for the quarter-finals against Uruguay.
• 2014: Sulley Muntari received the second yellow card in the second group game against Germany and was suspended for the last game against Portugal.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

The Ghanaians mostly nominated players who played abroad and in 2014 there was only one player who was playing in Ghana, substitute goalkeeper Stephen Adams , in the squad.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
2006 (4)	19 (2 in Denmark, 3 in Germany, 1 in England, 1 in France, 3 in Israel, 3 in Italy, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Sweden, 1 in Switzerland, 1 in Serbia & Montenegro, 2 in Turkey )	Issah Ahmed (0), Razak Pimpong (3); Otto Addo (2), Matthew Amoah (4), Hans Sarpei (0); Michael Essien (3); John Mensah (4) ;, Sammy Adjei (0), John Paintsil (4), Emmanuel Pappoe (2); Asamoah Gyan (3), Samuel Kuffour (1), Sulley Muntari (3); Eric Addo (4); Derek Boateng (3); Alexander Tachie-Mensah (3); Haminu Dramani (2), Stephen Appiah (4), Richard Kingson (4)
2010 (5)	20 (1 in Egypt, 3 in Germany, 4 in England, 2 in France, 4 in Italy, 1 in Qatar, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Norway, 1 in Switzerland, 2 in Spain)	Rahim Ayew (0); Hans Sarpei (5), Isaac Vorsah (2) Prince Tagoe (3); Richard Kingson (5), John Paintsil (5), John Mensah (3), Kevin-Prince Boateng (5); André Ayew (4), Asamoah Gyan (5); Dominic Adiyiah (2), Stephen Appiah (3), Kwadwo Asamoah (5), Sulley Muntari (4); Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (2); Matthew Amoah (2); Anthony Annan (5); Samuel Inkoom (2); Derek Boateng (1), Jonathan Mensah (4)
2014 (3)	22 (1 in Belgium, 1 in Germany, 1 in England, 5 in France, 1 in Greece, 5 in Italy, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Norway, 2 in Russia, 2 in South Africa, 1 in Tunisia, 1 in the United Arab Emirates)	Daniel Opare (1); Kevin-Prince Boateng (2); Albert Adomah (1); André Ayew (3), Jordan Ayew (3), John Boye (3), Abdul Majeed Waris (1), Jonathan Mensah (3); Samuel Inkoom (0); Afriyie Acquah (1), Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (2), Kwadwo Asamoah (3), Michael Essien (1), Sulley Muntari (2); Christian Atsu (3); Adam Larsen Kwarasey (1); Wakaso Mubarak (2), Mohammed Rabiu (3); Fatau Dauda (2), Rashid Sumaila (0); Harrison Afful (2); Asamoah Gyan (3)

Games

The Ghanaians have played 12 World Cup games so far, four of which have been won, five lost and three have ended in a draw. Two games had to be extended, one won in extra time and one lost on penalties. The Ghanaians never met the hosts, but in 2006 the defending champions and in 2006 and 2014 the eventual world champions and only once against a newcomer (Serbia), who was the successor to other teams (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia & Montenegro). The Ghanaians most often played against the USA: in all three appearances they faced the Americans.

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent	venue		occasion	comment
1	06/12/2006	0: 2	Italy	Hanover ( DEU )	*	Preliminary round	First international match against Italy
2	06/17/2006	2-0	Czech Republic	Cologne ( DEU )	*	Preliminary round	First international match against the Czech Republic
3	06/21/2006	2: 1	United States	Nuremberg ( DEU )	*	Preliminary round	First international match against the USA
4th	06/27/2006	0: 3	Brazil	Dortmund ( DEU )	*	Round of 16
5	06/13/2010	1-0	Serbia	Pretoria ( ZAF )	*	Preliminary round	First international match against Serbia
6th	06/19/2010	1: 1	Australia	Port Elizabeth ( ZAF )	*	Preliminary round
7th	06/23/2010	0: 1	Germany	Johannesburg ( ZAF )	*	Preliminary round
8th	06/26/2010	2: 1 a.d.	United States	Rustenburg ( ZAF )	*	Round of 16
9	07/05/2010	1: 1 n.v. 2: 4 i. E.	Uruguay	Johannesburg ( ZAF )	*	Quarter finals
10	06/16/2014	1: 2	United States	Natal ( BRA )	*	Preliminary round
11	06/21/2014	2: 2	Germany	Fortaleza ( BRA )	*	Preliminary round
12	06/26/2014	1: 2	Portugal	Brasília ( BRA )	*	Preliminary round	First international match against Portugal

Highest victories and defeats

All of Ghana's World Cup victories were also the greatest victories against these teams:

•  Serbia : Preliminary round 2010 - 1-0 (only game against Serbia)
•  Czech Republic : Preliminary round 2006 - 2-0 (only game against the Czech Republic)
•  United States : Preliminary round 2006 and round of 16 2010: 2: 1 and 2: 1 a.d. (only wins against the USA)

Ghana suffered their biggest defeats against the following teams in World Cup tournaments:

•  Italy : Preliminary round 2006 - 2-0 (only game against Italy)
•  Portugal : Preliminary round 2014 - 1: 2 (only game against Portugal)
•  United States : Preliminary round 2014 - 1: 2 (only loss to USA)

particularities

• Ghana are the first team to reach the knockout stage with penalty goals alone. Asamoah Gyan scored the 1-0 winner against Serbia in 2010 and the 1-1 equalizer against Australia with a hand penalty. Ghana only got two goals out of the game in the round of 16.
• Ghana are the first team to receive a penalty in extra time. At the 2010 World Cup, Luis Suárez fended off a shot in the quarter-finals against Ghana against Uruguay in the last minute of extra time when the score was 1-1 on the goal line. Asamoah Gyan, who had converted 2 penalties in the preliminary round, missed, and in the subsequent penalty shootout Ghana lost 4-2, with Gyan converting the 1st penalty for Ghana.
• In 2010 and 2014 there were two brothers in the squad: André and Rahim and Jordan Ayew .
• In 2010 and 2014 the half-brothers Kevin-Prince and Jérôme Boateng met in the games against Germany , the first duel between two brothers at a World Cup.

See also

Ghana Women's National Football Team / World Championships

Web links

• fifa.com: Ghana

References and footnotes

1. ↑ Lost one game on penalties .
2. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB)