Black Stars Assistant Coach Desmond Ofei is confident that Ghana is well-positioned to secure qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, set to take place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
His optimism comes despite the team’s recent failure to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco—marking the first time in 20 years that Ghana has missed out on the tournament.
This setback has cast a shadow over Otto Addo’s tenure as head coach of the four-time AFCON champions, who last lifted the trophy in 1982.
Ofei, who also serves as the head coach of Ghana’s U-20 team, the Black Satellites, is currently preparing the squad for the U-20 AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire this April.
His appointment to the senior national team comes at a crucial time, as the Black Stars face immense pressure to secure a World Cup spot following their recent struggles under Otto Addo.
Speaking exclusively to Citi Sports, Ofei described his new role as a significant learning opportunity and reiterated his belief in the team’s ability to qualify for the global tournament.
Yeah, I mean being part of the technical team of the “A” national team is a privilege.
Very honored to be given the opportunity.
I think my role is to make sure that as is the head coach as best as I can being part of the technical team is going to be an experience for me personally.
I feel like the setup looks really really strong with a very experienced technical advisor in the name of Shafar, so you know Winfried Shafar.
I feel like the chemistry is going to be there.
We have a lot of work to do we but I think we’re in a good position to qualify the team to the WORLD CUP and everybody’s hungry everybody’s really hungry and we have a new you know head of video analyst, we have a psychologist or sports mental coach as you want to call it, so I feel like everybody’s hungry to make sure that we qualify to the WORLD CUP.
The Black Stars will regroup in March for their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Chad and Madagascar.
However, many football fans remain skeptical about the team’s chances of securing a spot at the tournament.
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