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Arun - June 5, 2026
Ghana arrive at the 2026 World Cup with a squad full of Premier League quality and a manager installed just weeks before the tournament. Carlos Queiroz replaced Otto Addo in April after a string of poor friendly results and has had less time than almost any coach at this tournament to prepare his squad.
The players are there. Semenyo, Williams and Ayew give Ghana a forward line capable of hurting anyone. Thomas Partey anchors the midfield. The question is whether Queiroz has had enough time to make it all work together.
The squad carries notable absences. Mohammed Kudus was left out entirely. Alexander Djiku, the experienced centre-back, is ruled out with a hamstring injury. Mohammed Salisu suffered an ACL injury before the squad announcement.
Fifteen of the 26 players are making their World Cup debut. Queiroz described this as the most formidable challenge of his 43-year coaching career. The Panama opener on June 17 in Toronto is where everything starts and Ghana need to win it.
Ghana are drawn in Group L of the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside England, Croatia and Panama. For all our World Cup 2026 predictions and analysis visit LeagueLane.
Appearances: 5 | Best finish: Quarter-finals (2010) | Group stage exit in 2022
Ghana made their World Cup debut in 2006 in Germany and immediately showed what African football could offer at the highest level. They reached the round of 16, beating Czech Republic and the United States before losing to Brazil. It was a debut that announced the Black Stars to the world.
Four years later in South Africa came their finest hour. Ghana became the first African team to reach a World Cup quarter-final when they beat the United States 2-1 in extra time in Johannesburg. Against Uruguay in the quarter-final they came within the width of a post of reaching the semi-finals. Luis Suarez’s infamous handball on the goal line in the last minute of extra time denied Asamoah Gyan a winner. Gyan hit the resulting penalty against the bar. Uruguay went through on penalties. It remains the most painful moment in Ghanaian football history.
In 2014 they went out in the group stage after a chaotic campaign that included reported disputes over bonus payments. In 2022 they returned after missing Russia 2018 and went out in the group stage, losing to Uruguay in a painful echo of 2010 and drawing with Portugal and South Korea.
This tournament represents another chance to finally go further than a quarter-final and to close the wound that Suarez opened in Johannesburg.
Queiroz is one of the most well-travelled international managers in football history. He was Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Manchester United for years and is widely credited with helping build the defensive foundations of some of Ferguson’s greatest teams. As a head coach he has managed Portugal, South Africa, Iran across three World Cups, Colombia and Egypt before taking this job. He has appeared at the World Cup as a head coach more times than almost anyone alive.
He was appointed after Otto Addo was sacked in March following losses to Germany and Austria in friendlies. Queiroz inherited a settled squad that qualified under Addo and has had weeks rather than months to put his stamp on it. He is pragmatic, defensively organised and experienced enough to prepare a team for a tournament in a short time. He described the Ghana appointment as the most formidable challenge of his career. That is a striking admission from a man who managed Iran at three World Cups. It tells you something about the scale of the disruption caused by the managerial change.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Queiroz uses a 4-2-3-1 with Partey and Elisha Owusu as the double pivot. The defensive structure is organised and compact. In attack, Semenyo and Inaki Williams operate from wide positions and Jordan Ayew plays as the central forward or drops into the number ten role depending on the game. Kamaldeen Sulemana and Fatawu Issahaku provide pace and directness from the bench. Queiroz has built his Ghana setup around defensive solidity first. He does not trust a high defensive line and he does not want Ghana to be exposed on the counter. Against England and Croatia that approach makes sense. Against Panama in the opener, it creates risk if Ghana are too passive in the first 30 minutes.
Semenyo is Ghana’s most exciting player and the one the whole tournament will be watching when he takes the field. Manchester City paid 62.5 million pounds for him in January 2026 after he scored 10 Premier League goals for Bournemouth in the first half of the season. At City he has continued to develop and arrives at this World Cup as one of the most explosive wide forwards at the tournament. His pace, his ability to beat defenders with either foot and his confidence in front of goal make him the player most likely to produce a moment of brilliance that changes a game. Ghana will get out of Group L if Semenyo fires.
Williams chose Ghana over Spain and has been one of the most important players in the squad under both Addo and Queiroz. At Athletic Club he is a consistent performer in La Liga, combining physicality, pace and an eye for goal. He gives Ghana a different kind of attacking threat to Semenyo; where Semenyo is explosive and direct, Williams is powerful and intelligent in his movement. His ability to hold the ball up, bring others into play and score in tight situations makes him the ideal partner for Semenyo’s directness. Together they form the best wide forward pairing Ghana has ever had.
Ayew captains Ghana with 119 caps and is the most experienced outfield player in the squad. He scored seven goals and provided seven assists in qualifying. His leadership on and off the pitch is the spine around which Queiroz has built his group-stage preparation. At 33 he is not the physical force he once was but his experience of World Cup football, having been part of the 2014 and 2022 squads, is invaluable when younger teammates face the pressure of the biggest stage for the first time. He sets the standard the squad aspires to.
Partey left Arsenal in the summer of 2025 and joined Villarreal in La Liga. He remains Ghana’s best midfielder and the player Queiroz has built the defensive midfield structure around. His ability to win the ball, cover ground and distribute quickly gives Ghana a platform in the middle of the pitch that most African nations cannot match. When Partey is fit and at his best, Ghana control the tempo of games. His fitness record has been inconsistent in recent years but he arrived at the tournament without injury concerns and is expected to start all three group games.
Issahaku is the most exciting young player in Ghana’s squad and the one who gives Queiroz an attacking option with genuine Premier League quality from the bench. He plays for Leicester City and his technical ability, close control and directness in one-on-one situations make him one of the most difficult wide players to contain when he has space to run into. At 21 he is still developing but his quality is undeniable and his ability to come on and change a game makes him one of Ghana’s most valuable squad members in this tournament.
Ghana’s World Cup depends on the Panama opener. Win it and they arrive at the England game with confidence and a platform to push for second place. Lose it or draw and the pressure builds immediately for a new manager with limited time to prepare.
Queiroz is experienced enough to set up Ghana to be hard to beat in every game. Whether he has had enough time to make them difficult to beat and dangerous going forward simultaneously is the question that defines their tournament.
The Croatia game on June 27 in Philadelphia is the one that could define second place in Group L. If both teams arrive needing a result, Semenyo and Williams against Croatia’s ageing defensive line is the matchup Ghana will be building toward. Modric at 40 is a different defensive challenge to Modric at 33. Ghana can exploit the spaces Dalic’s system leaves behind.
For a betting angle, Semenyo to score in the tournament at odds that reflect his new-signing status at City is the play. He is in outstanding form, arrives motivated and faces Panama and Croatia in matches where he will have the space to express himself. Ghana to beat Panama and qualify for the knockout rounds as a third-place team is not an unreasonable ambition at the right price.
